John Thistleton August 09, 2012
61 Arthur Circle Red Hill has sold for $4 million. Photo: Karleen Minney
Property commentators have mixed views about the $4 million sale of a 1937 art deco house in prestigious Arthur Circle, Red Hill.
Agents say 61 Arthur Circle, which has a 14-metre heated swimming pool, tennis court and four garages, has been on the market for years.
The latest marketing from high end specialist Berkely Residential began last month, and described the six-bedroom house on a 5500 square metre block as one of the finest estates to be offered in Canberra in many years.
Real Estate Institute of Australia ACT spokesman Craig Bright said 18 Arthur Circle sold earlier this year for $3.4 million, signalling the market was starting to rebound.
''A lot of original properties which sold in the last 12 months have major building projects going on. People are spending a lot of money re-developing them.
''If you drive around Forrest in particular there is a lot of building activity at the moment, which is generally a sign people believe the market is going to swing up.''
'''Linview'' was built for the family of A. A. Tregear, according to its Berkely Residential marketing material, and was the first double storey, flat roof house to be built in the ACT.
A record-breaking suburb, Red Hill fell on lean times last year, with not one sale over $2 million, whereas in 2010 11 Wickham Crescent, a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house sold for $4.09 million and 27 Mugga Way set a new record with $7.3 million, and in 2009 four sales were recorded over $2 million and one over $3 million. Forrest weathered the property doldrums much better, with four $2 million sales this year and eight sales of homes exceeding $2 million each last year.
CB Richard Ellis residential valuations manager for Canberra Renee Pollak said houses priced from $2 million to $4 million were waiting up to 12 months to sell because vendors expectations were too far from what buyers were willing to pay.
''It's a limited market with not that much activity. It's just not bubbling over as much as it was during the peak.''
When it still needed renovation work some years ago, 61 Arthur Circle had been valued at more than $4 million. Buyers in the high end could negotiate generous sale contracts, including settlement periods of 12 months.