The house sold after an off-market bid of $80-85 million, highlighting the city’s elite (bordering ridiculous) real estate market.
We’ve covered some of the wildest real estate antics out there, from the sell-off of Sam Bankman-Fried’s $400m USD real estate empire to Jeff Bezos’ $900 million USD buy-up. Nothing, however, is quite able to compare with the absolutely mind-boggling booms and busts of Sydney’s property market which found itself a new poster boy this weekend…
An off-market bid has seen the Point Piper mansion ‘Rockleigh’ sell for between $80 million and $85 million AUD, securing it as one of Sydney’s top five most expensive house sales. Sold by medical specialist Philippa Harvey-Sutton — who inherited the property from her mother, Val Rundle, in 2016 — Rockleigh’s storied history and staggering value make this sale a noteworthy event in Sydney’s always eventful real estate scene.
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Rockleigh’s Legacy
Rockleigh has been in the Harvey-Sutton family for 46 years, originally purchased in 1978 for $325,000 AUD. At that time, Sydney’s median house price was $43,200 AUD — a far cry from today’s sky-high prices that lock so many out of the market — highlighting the incredible appreciation in the mansion’s value over the decades.
The property’s history traces all the way back to printer, publisher, and politician Frederick Pratten, who served as a Liberal member of the state parliament before switching to the Country Party. Following his death in 1977, his widow sold Rockleigh to the Rundles the following year.
Secrecy Behind The Sale
Details of Rockleigh’s sale have been kept under wraps since potential buyers first viewed the property over a year ago, with the sale only entering the city’s never-ending real estate rumour mill over the past weekend. Sources suggest that the sale price is expected to exceed $80 million, potentially hitting $85 million, with a long settlement period expected as the mass of paperwork gets signed-off.
Originally, the property was listed with $100 million aspirations in an off-market campaign that avoided public marketing and open inspections as Philippa Harvey-Sutton and her husband, retired lawyer Alistair Harvey-Sutton, began formulating plans to downsize.
Sydney’s Mind-Boggling Market
While many put the hefty price tag of this property down to its enviable view of Sydney Harbour, it’s far from the only property in the city to generate some big old numbers. Sydney’s market has witnessed somewhat sporadic sales in recent years, despite a plethora of high-profile listings. The nearly $85 million sale of Rockleigh is undeniably noteworthy but still trails a way behind the highest sales in the city.
The biggest house sales in Sydney — all located in Point Piper, the city’s super-rich suburb — include $130 million paid by tech billionaire Scott Farquhar for Uig Lodge, $100 million for the Fairwater estate by Farquhar’s Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, and $95 million for Edgewater mansion by gold mining magnate John Changjin Li. The Elizabeth Bay residence Boomerang, sold by the family of trucking billionaire Lindsay Fox for around $80 million, is yet to settle but very much underway.
Some will read these articles and weep as they struggle to scrape together enough cash for Sydney’s extortionate rental sector. Others will revel as they watch the prices of their own properties spiral upwards. Whichever side of the line you might fall on, at least we can all be happy for the smarmy estate agent who’s about to enjoy a very big weekend…