1/17 Loombah Road - Dover Heights - Is It Worth 7 Million ???

 

1/17 Loombah Road - Dover Heights

The highest price ever paid for a dual occupancy or semi in Dover Heights is 6.25 mill.  Sold on May 20, 2021 and it was 5 bed / 4 bath / 4 car with decent harbour views at 1/43 Hardy Street.

https://www.domain.com.au/property-profile/1-43-hardy-street-dover-heights-nsw-2030

1/17 Loombah is 3 bed, 3 bath, 2 car with not great views and word has it that the vendor was offered over 6 mill but wants more than 7.   Is it worth it?

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-dover+heights-136400234

Here is my take:

I went to one of the very first inspections of this property went it first went on the market.  One of the first things that irked me was the fact the the property was clearly not complete.  The gates between the street and both the front and back yards had not been installed and while walking on the patio I noticed that some of the tiles had yet to be secured to the concrete below.  When you have been building a place for as long as 2 years, does it not make sense to wait a week or two extra to complete everything before opening it up for inspection?

One bit of property description states, "No expense has been spared in the creation of this whole-floor house-sized residence"  

While this may be partially true I found a couple examples that clearly speak otherwise.  First the external tile used on the ground level along Loombah road looks to me to be cheap and nasty.  Had they used rugged sandstone block or even less expensive sandstone tile it would have at least matched the historically preferred front boundary wall of the Dover Heights, looked much better and certainly more luxurious

I also thought the fact that there was no BBQ on the deck was a major oversight. While I asked the agent about this he said there was a bayonet.  That's great but when you are paying this many million for a no expenses spared lux property, I do think that a BBQ might have been included.

Overall the unit is really beautiful and the quality of the finishes and excellent styling really showed.  The living area was expensive and I was really impressed by the double glazed windows which one rarely sees these days.  The black framed windows and doors were all great quality.  The master bedroom was huge and the  master bathroom enormous.  The master walk in closet was also very big.  However due to having used so much of the space on the master suite, the kitchen area was relatively small. I think this was a design oversight.  The master suite could have been made a bit smaller to allow the kitchen to be a reasonable size.

There was a decent sized second bedroom  with ensuite and the third bedroom had a wall bed so that room easily doubled as both a bedroom and and office.  It was a good use of space.  This third bedroom opened out to a rectangular stretch of lawn that was on the Military Road side of the property

There is a lovely pool and deck in the backyard for the sole use of this unit.  However over 1/2 of the grassy backyard was sloped and therefore almost entirely unusable except perhaps for sunning yourself on a towel.  Why this area was sloped remains a mystery to me.  There might have been a design reason for doing this but had this part of the backyard been flat then it could have been real useful space.  As a slope it serves a pretty green space to look at but not much else.

The unit has 2 car parking on shared basement parking level and a lovely lift and entry way.  The lift and stairs to both units is in a shared entry area facing Military Road.  It features a very funky hanging pendant light that is like beacon to anyone driving down Military Road towards Bondi Beach.  I love the light and think the shared entry is a stunning design feature.

As for the views I should note that I am a view snob and not easily impressed.  You can see the upper bits of  Sydney Harbor Bridge and small bits of the  Opera House. It does have a Sydney CBD skyline view and due to the elevated position it has a nice overall district view.  While these views are better than no views I would not be buying this place for its amazing views.  I would rate the views as just so so and certainly not its best feature.

So what is my conclusion.  While I did find some faults with this no expense spared unit, I do think it is mostly well designed and ideal for a family who want to live on one level. The built quality was extremely high and the styling was excellent.  

But when the highest price for a dual occupancy / semi is 6.25 for 5/4/4 and you are expecting over 7 for 3/3/2 I would say that the vendor is reaching for the stars.  That said, a property is worth whatever someone is willing to pay.  If someone is willing to pay 7 million then that is what it is worth.  Time will tell...