Pete Sampras In Lake Sherwood

Retired tennis star Pete Sampras and his wife, actress Bridgette Wilson-Sampras like to move around a lot it seems. Last month Big Time Listings reported that the pair had bought a home for $5.6 million in Brentwood. Now the LA Times says that the pair have listed their newly built compound in Lake Sherwood for $25 million. They also sold a Beverly Hills mansion in 2008 for $23 million.

Today's estate is a gated contemporary that is atop 20 acres offering views of the surrounding countryside. The property has a tennis court, swimming pool, guest house and a 2,000 square-foot gym. The main home has a home theater, gourmet kitchen, game room and there are seven bedrooms. This home is listed at $25 million (the same price their Beverly Hills home was first listed at in 2008).

Gallery: Pete Sampras in Lake Sherwood

Credit: Luxist

RBA warns home prices could go higher

The Reserve Bank has warned that difficulties in building new homes threaten to drive Australian house prices higher.

RBA assistant governor Phillip Lowe said if the nation's population growth remained strong, more of the economy would need to be devoted towards housing, presenting challenges both to labour markets and governments.

"If this does not happen, further adjustment in housing prices and rents is likely to occur to balance supply and demand," he said.

Australian home prices surged 13.6 per cent last year, as a strong economy and robust population growth spurred buyers to push prices higher on limited availability. At the same time bottlenecks in the new home construction have curtailed supply, adding to price pressures.

"With population growth above average, and growth in the housing stock below average, it is not surprising that there has been upward pressure on housing costs as part of the process of balancing supply and demand, with the higher housing costs leading to people economising on housing services," said Mr Lowe.

"Obvious examples of this are the trend towards young adults staying in the parental home longer, and a rise in the number of people sharing accommodation."

Mr Lowe said Australia faced a challenge in building enough homes, given that the country entered the current economic upswing with a tight housing market.

Rates rise

Last week, the RBA raised the cash rate to 4 per cent, hiking for the fourth time since October, making it one of the first advanced economies in the world to begin lifting rates following the financial crisis.

"If we are to build more dwellings, we need to ensure that planning guidelines and infrastructure provision can accommodate this," said Mr Lowe. "This will pose challenges for all levels of government."

Also, with the economy expected to continue to expand helped by ongoing demand from Asia for Australian resources, developers will compete with the resources industry for the workers capable of the work.

"If housing construction is very strong at the same time that the resources sector is expanding, there will be competing demands for a range of skilled workers and specialised services."

"Managing these competing demands and ensuring the adequate supply of workers with appropriate skills will be a challenge."

The speech, entitled 'Some Challenges for the Future,' also highlighted the importance of economic and policy flexibility in helping Australia weather the financial crisis. Mr Lowe delivered the speech to the Urban Development Institute of Australia National Congress in Sydney this morning.

Population grows, housing slows

He said Australia's situation was in contrast to the US and Spain, which experienced an "unsustainable surge" in dwelling investment in the mid-2000s, resulting in a glut of empty homes.

"Indeed, over recent years, the rate of increase in the number of dwellings has been below the average of the past 50 years," he said. "In contrast, the rate of increase in the population has been around the fastest in 50 years."

Mr Lowe said that despite above-average slice of the nation's gross domestic product focused on dwelling investment, there remained slow growth in the number of new homes.

''Within total dwelling investment, renovation activity now accounts for a higher share than was the case historically, and the average size and quality of new dwellings has also increased substantially.”

Older homeowners, enjoying rising values for their properties, have taken out loans to upgrades and extensions to improve them, pushing up their home prices higher.

Ownership for buyers under 35, however, had fallen over the past fifteen years, according to RBA data released in December.

Credit: The Age

Mel Gibson Malibu mansion goes in divorce sale

MEL GIBSON and his soon to be ex-wife are selling their family mansion as their divorce proceedings hit the home stretch.

The couple, who filed for divorce 11 months ago, want $A16 million for their sprawling estate, which is hidden inside an exclusive gated community in sun-drenched Malibu.

The Spanish hacienda-style retreat, Lavender Hill Farm, was listed on Saturday as the couple finalise their bitter split.

Gibson, 55, and his Australian wife Robyn Moore, 54, bought the six-bedroom spread in 1993.

They raised their seven children there as Gibson carved out the glittering Hollywood career that has earned him about $1 billion.

The home, in the star-studded Serra Retreat, has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a gym, three fireplaces, a library, three guest houses and private staff quarters.

There is a pool, spa, tennis court, giant garden chess board, fruit orchards and an open air cabana.

Over the years, their neighbours inside the super rich enclave have included director James Cameron, pop star Britney Spears and Australia's own Olivia Newton-John.

The Telegraph Online understands the home was listed on Saturday and, so far, no prospective buyers have viewed it.

Robyn Moore filed for a divorce from her movie star husband last April, nearly three years after Gibson claims they first separated.

He has since had a daughter with his new lover, Russian pianist Oksana Grigorieva, 40.

Californian legal experts yesterday said the listing could mean Gibson and Robyn have reached a settlement which orders the sale of the home.

It could also mean that Robyn, who has been the sole occupant since the split, has simply decided to move out and build a new life elsewhere.

She is rumoured to have a close companion in northern California.

In another sign the divorce could be nearing an end, Gibson's health care plan has been formally tied to the proceedings, a routine process that ensures every last cent is brought before the court for judgment.

Gibson and Robyn had no prenuptial agreement, which means his entire fortune will probably be divided down the middle.

The LA Superior Court judge handling the Gibson divorce has ordered their lawyers to update him on the status of the negotiations in May.The agents selling the family home, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, declined to comment.

Gibson has a taste for expansive country-style living. His 15-bedroom Tudor-style mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, is on the market for $A32.6 million.

It was first listed in 2007, before the economic downturn.

The agent selling that home did not return calls last night.

Credit: Herald Sun

Quantcast David Lipman sells Hollywood Hills home

The movie producer gave the 1961 house a head-to-toe makeover and called it ‘the house Shrek built.’Producer David Lipman has sold his Hollywood Hills home for $1.9 million, according to the Multiple Listing Service. He had listed it last summer at $2,195,000.

Lipman bought the neglected house in 2000 for $678,000 and completely overhauled it while working as a producer on the "Shrek" movies (2001, 2003 and 2004) and executive producer for "The Tale of Despereaux" (2008). He dubbed it "the house Shrek built."

The classic midcentury house was designed by architect Merle Roussellot and built in 1961.The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home, with fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom, has a swimming pool and sits on a hillside cul-de-sac. A courtyard entrance with a koi pond leads to 1,875 square feet of living space.

The listing agent was Max Nelson of Deasy/Penner & Partners, Beverly Hills. Linda Hindley of Coldwell Banker's Beverly Hills North office represented the buyer.

Credit: LA Times

Buyers flock to millionaires’ row in Frankston

BUYERS are queuing up to get hold of million-dollar homes in a Frankston street.

Cliff Rd in Frankston South is so sought-after, real estate agents have lists of potential buyers on their books.

Director of eview Arthur Proios said his team had hundreds of potential buyers on the database at any one time.

“Cliff Rd is where Frankston’s blue chip buying is,” Mr Proios said. “Location, location is what sells this street.

“They don’t come on the market very often but when they do, they get snatched up.”

Harcourts real estate co-owner Tanya Neven-Jones said she loved to get hold of property on the street.

“When we get anything there, the phones go crazy,” she said.

“They are so easy to shift and it is lovely to be able to say there is no shortage of million-plus buyers.

“It has the looks of a beautiful leafy suburb but is at the heart of everything.”

Properties on Cliff Rd sell from $900,000 and upwards of $1 million for houses with water views.

Other streets identified by real estate agents as hotspots are Fortescue Ave, Seaford, and Yuille St, Frankston.

Mates Rates sales manager David Cowie said Yuille St was a prime selling street.

“Houses there are snapped up in two to three weeks,” Mr Cowie said.

“We have a lot of people waiting for houses in that area of Frankston South in the high school zone.”

Real estate business owner Glenn Ryan described Fortescue Ave as “a permanent property hotspot”.

Frankston recorded the third-highest number of property sales over six months to September, 2009.

Property research group PRDnationwide said Frankston saw 195 properties sold in this time, up 30 per cent on the year before.

Credit: Frankston Standard Leader

Average houses will be worth $1,000,000 by 2019

Pete Boehm

Back in October 2009 I wrote a Yahoo7 column called Buying an Australian home – still worth it? I asked whether Aussie homes were still worth the sacrifice. One thing I examined was the financial pressure to buy – that is, people’s worry that if they didn’t buy soon they’d be forever priced out of the market, with prices going up and up.

Not long afterwards, in an article titled ‘$1m homes ‘the norm’ in a decade’, The Age reported the Real Estate Institute of Victoria’s view that Melbourne’s median house price will be $1 million dollars in ten years’ time. Perhaps my column should have been called Buying an Australian home – still afford it?

You might think that it’s ridiculous or impossible for house prices to reach such dizzying heights, but is it?

Let’s see how far fetched a prediction this really is by taking October 2009’s median house price as a base point, looking back ten years to October 1999, then forecast ten years forward:

Median house prices October 2009

Capital City	Oct 1999	Oct 2009	Change	% change	Compound Growth
Sydney	$315,000	$615,000	$300,000	95%	6.9%
Melbourne	$199,000	$519,000	$320,000	160%	10.0%
Brisbane	$150,000	$459,000	$309,000	207%	11.9%

Using Residex’s October 2009 median house price valuations in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane – alongside estimated median prices in 1999 based on Residex’s House Price Indices – we see some huge increases.

The analysis shows that median house prices have almost doubled in Sydney, gone up one and half times in Melbourne, and tripled in Brisbane. That’s impressive price growth over the past ten years (keep in mind that during this period prices went up, down and up again but the overall trend is positive).

So, in the next ten years, what growth would we need before the median price hit $1 million?

Median house prices at $1 million October 2019

Capital City	Oct 2009	Oct 2019	Change	% change	Compound Growth
Sydney	$615,000	$1,000,000	$385,000	63%	5.0%
Melbourne	$519,000	$1,000,000	$481,000	93%	6.8%
Brisbane	$459,000	$1,000,000	$541,000	118%	8.1%

As you can see, the compound growth required is between 5 and 8 per cent, depending on the city. That’s well under what was achieved over the last decade.

This suggests that, ten years from now, a $1 million dollar median house price in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane is, indeed, fairly likely.

Economic conditions right for growth

As in any market, home prices are a function of supply and demand. In the near future, population growth and an undersupply of housing stock will mean that demand continues to strengthen.

Combine this with a return to stable economic conditions and relatively low and stable interest rates and you have the necessary ingredients for home prices to increase well ahead of inflation.

While past market performance might not reflect future results, $1 million dollar median price predictions for Melbourne and the eastern capitals seem quite reasonable. Indeed, to go even further, Residex believes that 15 years from now median property prices will reach the $1.5 million mark.

What it all means

The residential property market is split into almost equal thirds: those who own outright, those paying off a mortgage, and those who are renting.

The first two groups are going to be happy. Their wealth and equity will increase as property values continue to rise.

But – without being too dramatic – for those who are renting and/or wanting to buy in the capital cities in the next ten years, the dream of home ownership might be nothing more than just that – a dream.

Affordability is already a major problem, and increased prices will make it worse. Low to middle income earners will be further marginalised, while the average Australian wage will need to rise 5 to 8 per cent per annum over the next ten years to keep pace with mortgage repayment and deposit requirements.

What to do

If owing a home is your goal, and you’re worried about being priced-out, what can you do?

There are no easy solutions, but here are a few suggestions:

• Have realistic goals. Be flexible about the type and location of property you can reasonably afford as your first home. Enter the market at the lower end and move up the ladder when your needs and finances permit.

• Consider investing first. It might be easier to enter the market with the aid of someone else – your tenant. They will help to pay off your mortgage and your investment property might eventually become your home. (See my column Is it time to invest in property? for more information).

• Don’t go for the biggest and best homes. Look for other types of properties, including units and apartments. These are good ways to get into the suburbs you like that might otherwise be unaffordable.

• Don’t over commit your finances. Getting into the market isn’t life’s ‘be all end all’. The last thing you want is to become a slave to your mortgage.

• Educate yourself so that you understand what’s involved in becoming a first home owner or investor. Do your research by going online and talking to real estate agents. Buy independent property reports to get a feel for property prices in the suburbs you’re interested in – making sure that, if and when you do buy, you’re not going to pay too much.

Credit: Real Estate Blog

$25m house price: a record

BY MARIKA DOBBIN

The St Georges Road property, believed to have fetched almost $25 million.

Melbourne's record house price has been broken again, with soft-drink magnate turned property developer Harry Stamoulis paying what is believed to be almost $25 million for a former Baillieu family estate.

Mr Stamoulis paid $10 million more than Ted Baillieu and his siblings sold the property for at the bottom of the market early last year following the death of their mother, Diana.

The half-hectare property on one of the best-known boulevards in Toorak belonged to the Baillieu family for 70 years.

The sale hands private investors Zig Inge group, which paid $14.8 million to the Baillieus last February, a massive profit in just a year and illustrates how high the real-estate market has rebounded.

It is believed Mr Stamoulis will knock down the Federation-style house and build a new one on the land on St Georges Road.

Buyers' advocate David Morrell said top-end prices were up by more than 20 per cent on this time last year, but the record sale had ''walloped'' that.

''It just goes to show that you can't go wrong land banking in Toorak,'' he said. ''It's a hefty price and the buyer's still got to put a new house on it.''

Agent Rodney Morley of TBM real estate in Toorak made the record sale. He declined to comment.

Melbourne's previous record was set in November when Autobarn spare parts retailer Garry Dumbrell paid almost $21 million for Avon Court in Hawthorn. The sale was wrongly reported by other media as being $25 million.

Historic Miegunyah on Orrong Road went for $20 million the same week, sold to a local business identity who remains a mystery.

The latest sale caps a big week in Melbourne's most exclusive suburb, with Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon selling his Tuscan-inspired mansion, Toscana, for more than $15 million.

But cousin Graham Smorgon - a former Carlton Football Club president - is struggling to sell his sprawling Linlithgow Road home for about the same price. Another historic family estate, Dunraven, is also unsold after months on the market.

Mr Stamoulis and family have a $389 million fortune, according to BRW. His family founded the Hellenic Museum in the old Melbourne Mint building on William Street.

He did not return calls from The Age.

Credit: The Age