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Why wealthy Sydney home owners decided to sell, then changed their minds
By Lucy Macken
The winter school holiday kicked off this week and as well-heeled buyers, sellers and agents alike skipped town, a slew of high-end houses were quietly withdrawn from sale, the bulk of them to be “rested” ahead of a relaunch in spring.
Such metaphorical wallflowers of the prestige market unite a quintessentially Sydney cast of identities. Think Westfield heirs, a tech entrepreneur, investment banker, rich-lister, former bank boss and the scion of a billionaire Chinese tycoon who are no doubt hoping to save on marketing costs while cashed-up buyers are AWOL.
The Pittwater getaway of Simon and Catriona Mordant comes with a boatshed, jetty and pool.Credit: Domain
Philanthropist and investment banker Simon Mordant and his wife Catriona only went public with their sales campaign on their Pittwater getaway in May with an official guide of $15 million to $16 million. It was slipped off property portals on Thursday by LJ Hooker’s BJ Edwards.
Tony Denny has traded in the used-car market to focus on property investment.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Ditto former used car dealer and rich lister Tony Denny on the sale of his almost one-hectare block with a rundown house in North Wahroonga that he purchased in 2019 for $4.5 million. Until this week DiJones’s Sam Outch and BlackDiamondz’s Eric Leung were offering it for $9 million.
It’s also holiday time for the Vaucluse designer digs of Bonita and Sean Katz, co-founder and chairman of alternative investment platform AltX. The couple listed the architect Brian Meyerson-designed house in February with Sotheby’s Michael Pallier for $29 million after they bought the Watsons Bay beachfront home of medico entrepreneur Philippa McCaffery for $33 million.
Mark Saunders, of the Westfield founding family, is selling his Bellevue Hill family home for $30 million.Credit: Domain
The Bellevue Hill childhood home of Westfield heirs Betty Saunders-Klimenko, Monica Saunders-Weinberg and their brother Mark Saunders is yet to lure a buyer after it was launched for $30 million by Ray White Double Bay’s Ashley Bierman. Expect to see it return later this year.
Chinese scion Jeremy Jianmin Song has been waiting seven months for a buyer of his historic Macquarie Lighthouse Keeper’s Cottage in Vaucluse since it was launched in November for $11.5 million to $12 million by McGrath’s Robert Alfeldi.
Not that Song would need to sell. He is the chairman of the Chinese-owned conglomerate Nanshan Group and the son of billionaire Song Zuowen.
It was October when the Bronte home of Podcorp commercial developer boss Andrew Podgornik and wife Chloe Podgornik was listed amid much fanfare with expectations well into the $30 million range by Pillinger and PPD agencies.
Andrew and Chloe Podgornik were hoping to reset the Bronte suburb record selling their designer home.Credit: Brett Boardman
Credit where it’s due, it’s an impressive house. Andrew, the son of the late Melbourne building magnate Floyd Podgornik, and Chloe, daughter of former Just Jeans boss Craig Kimberley, bought the property in 2008 for $7.55 million and commissioned an award-winning rebuild by Neeson Murcutt Architects.
Former Argo Investments deputy chairman Robert Rich has been waiting since last August to sell his grand apartment in the converted Federation mansion Babworth House at Darling Point. Originally offered for $20 million, the guide was later revised by Richardson & Wrench’s Marion Badenoch and Michael Dunn to $18 million to $20 million before the campaign was put on pause.
Jacqueline Bailey at her Paddington home, Brompton, with her dog Honey.Credit: Natalie Boog
Also taking a breather ahead of spring is Jacqueline Bailey, whose bid to sell her Paddington home has been a case study in all that could go wrong.
Brompton House is the lavishly renovated consolidation of two grand Victorian terraces that briefly set a house price record for Paddington last year when it sold for $14 million to art adviser Richard Thompson.
But alas, Thompson never settled on his exchange, and so in April Sotheby’s Maclay Longhurst returned it for sale, still with a $14 million guide and Thompson’s interest lodged on title.
After two scheduled auction dates came and went, it was withdrawn from property sites this week, but at least Thompson’s caveat has finally been lifted.
Brompton House had a lavish renovation.Credit: Domain
Former Bank of Queensland chief Stuart Grimshaw, now chief of payments group Humm, and his wife Anneliese know the feeling. They were noteworthy sellers earlier this year on their historic Pymble estate, Coppins, but have been left buyer-less after it was pulled from auction by Pello’s Alex Mintorn.
Former Bank of Queensland chief executive Stuart Grimshaw now heads up Humm payments group.
Built in 1935, designed by Walter Burley Griffin and set on 5640 square metres, Coppins last traded for $13 million in 2020 from Telstra senior executive David Burns and his wife Edwina.
A renovation of the heritage-listed property followed their purchase, but it included unauthorised work that the Land and Environment Court has since ordered to be reinstated, like the original timber entry door, a sandstone fireplace and the windmill in the Marion Mahoney Griffin gardens.
Pello’s Alex Mintorn was never tempted to reveal the most scant details about the listing, including the initial $30 million guide, but he did at least confirm this week that he is no longer on the selling ticket.
Coppins is the landmark Walter Burley Griffin-designed residence in Pymble on 5640 square metres.Credit: Domain
clarification
An earlier version of this story stated that Nanshan Group owned a 20 per cent stake in Virgin Australia. That ownership ended in 2020.