The Great Divides

By Alex May

It's known as the great divide - the line between the ``right'' and ``wrong'' side of the tracks - and in real estate terms it can mean thousands and sometimes millions of dollars difference in price.

Sydney Harbour is this city's ultimate great divide - a massive body of water that our colonial founders only bothered to cross by ferry or boat if they had to make a living on the squalid harbourfront.
When the Sydney Harbour Bridge was completed in 1932, the north shore transformed itself into the leafy, blue ribbon area it is today.

While the east and north are still prestige rivals, there is no doubt that better value can be found in the north where a harbourfront position can cost half as much as in the east. The record price in the east is $28 million in Point Piper while the north shore's premium is $18 million in Mosman - a whopping $10 million difference.
Great divides can also be a road or a train line that separates blue ribbon from everyday run-of-the-mill generic ribbon.
Buyers in the know can often find significant discounts on property in the same or neighbouring suburb, for little more than accidents of history. And these properties are by no means write-offs as solid investments. "Suburbs can re-rate themselves over time,'' says Louis Christopher, research director of Australian Property Monitors. ``Especially if new infrastructure comes along, or attitudes change."

PACIFIC HIGHWAY

"Prestige east side position" seems to blare out from real estate ads for houses in north shore suburbs like Killara, Pymble, and Lindfield, which are divided by the busy Pacific Highway.
Burns & Burns principal Julia Burns says because development occurred along the railway line in the early 1900s most of the shops, schools and railway stations are on the east side, which makes properties on that side more expensive.
Mcconnellbourn principal Matthew Bourn says houses on the western side of the highway are 10 to 15 per cent cheaper.
"Shirley Rd in Roseville has beautiful Federation homes worth around $2 million, but if you picked them up and transplanted them into one of the east side streets, they would be worth between $2.3m and $2.5m," he says.
Here's the tip for budget buyers: the west side offers easier access to the M2, which is attractive for executives who work in Sydney's Silicon Valley at Ryde.
There are bargains on the west side, including a cheapie two-bedroom weatherboard on busy Ryde Rd in Pymble for sale by offers in the low to mid-$500,000s through Century 21 Cordeau Marshall Gordon.
Bourn says a west-side house in Killara can start in the mid $800s, compared to an east-side Killara house which starts at around $1 million but is more likely to be on a larger block of land.

GLADESVILLE BRIDGE

This Los Angeles-style expressway offers beautiful views over the Lane Cove River and the Parramatta River. It also divides exclusive Hunters Hill into two distinct sections –Boronia Park near St Josephs College, and the eastside peninsula section.
Ward Partners principal David Ward says the peninsula side of Hunters Hill has higher house prices, grander homes and better water views than its poorer cousin, Boronia Park.
“But I actually think Boronia Park is a fantastic little spot. Very under-valued. It’s actually got the best access to Chatswood and schools,” he says.
Families who want to be in walking distance to St Josephs prefer to buy the historic family homes that dot the Boronia Park side of the suburb, where prices average between $1.2million and $1.4million for a modest family house.
The bargains are even bigger if a buyer is prepared to go to a busy road position in Boronia Park, with a three-bedroom brick house on Ryde Rd on the market for $675,000 through Richardson & Wrench Hunters Hill.
Ward says the cheapest house that sold recently on the peninsula side of Hunters Hill was a timber cottage which went for $2.1million – “it would have been worth $1.5million or $1.6million on the Boronia Park side, so that gives you an indication of the value you get over the other side of the expressway”.

SPIT BRIDGE

A bridge that stops traffic up to eight times a day is the difference between the $18 million record Mosman price and the $6 million record in harbourfront Clontarf, just across Middle Harbour.
"Even when you go up to Forty Baskets, which has a north-east harbour aspect the same as Mosman, the prices only go up to $7 million," says John Cunningham Real Estate valuer and principal John Cunningham.
He says a family home in Balgowlah Heights would cost around $1.5million, about $300,000 cheaper than an equivalent home in Mosman.
"People come over the bridge for lifestyle and affordability - we have the harbour, we have the beach and the only real difference is the Spit Bridge and the perception that it takes longer to get to the city," says Cunningham.
But Mosman-based O'Gorman & Mahon principal Kerry Mahon says buyers would rather take a worse position on a busy road in Mosman than cross the great divide of the Spit.
An unrenovated three-bedroom semi on Avenue Rd in Mosman just sold for $800,000, which Mahon says proves there are pockets of value on what he believes is the "right" side of the Spit Bridge.

OLD SOUTH HEAD ROAD

Properties in Dover Heights, Bondi and North Bondi on the ocean side of Old South Head Road are far cheaper than those in Vaucluse and parts of Rose Bay on the other.
The key, of course, is the harbour. Raine & Horne Double Bay's Martin Maskin says properties closer to the harbour - especially those with views - are worth more than those on the beach side of Old South Head Rd, even if they have an ocean outlook.
"Houses below Hopetoun in Vaucluse go for between $16m and $18m but the record once you get higher up the cliffs is only $5.5m," Maskin says.
Yet GoodyerDonnelley principal Pauline Goodyer believes this could change. ``I think anything close to a park, a walking track, the water or a beach is going to be in demand and do well over time."
Value-seekers can save themselves a bundle. A semi in The Avenue on the ocean side of Old South Head Rd in Rose Bay is currently on the market for $949,000 through Raine & Horne Double Bay, while a semi on harbour side Balfour Rd in the same suburb sold for $1.66million in April this year.

CLEVELAND STREET

The busy road that links Moore Park in the east with Victoria Park near Broadway in the city is still a battle-scarred strip choked with traffic and edged with rundown terraces, old garages and units.
“Cleveland St is one of those roads that a lot of buyers are not willing to cross, even though properties are much cheaper on the other side,” says Bresic Whitney Estate Agents principal Shannan Whitney.
The southern side of Cleveland St – Darlington, Waterloo and Redfern – is up to 20 per cent cheaper than the Surry Hills and Chippendale side of the road.
Terraces in Waterloo start in the $400,000s and are sometimes renovated. An unrenovated small terrace on the northern side of Cleveland St would start in the $500,000s, local agents say.
The price gap between East Redfern and Surry Hills is narrower. Large renovated terraces in Redfern East go for between $800,000 and $1million and start from $900,000 on the Surry Hills side.
Spencer & Servi First National principal David Servi says buyers often prefer the Surry Hills side of Cleveland St, but will make the leap to the less prestigious side of the busy road to buy a bigger house with off-street parking.
“There are some beautiful large three-storey terraces in Great Buckingham St in Redfern – which is supposedly wrong side of Cleveland St - that start from $700,000 and go up to the $900,000s,” he says.

COOK’S RIVER

The Cooks River snakes from the airport through inner west suburbs like Marrickville, Tempe, Campsie and Croydon Park. It has undergone a remarkable transformation from polluted stench to a pleasant parklands and bike track.
Raine & Horne Marrickville principal Michael Smith - who is also a valuer - says the north and the south sides of the river are completely different, with the more elevated southern side having higher average prices and larger land sizes.
Suburbs on the northern side of the river - Marrickville and Hurlstone Park - are generally on smaller blocks of land than Earlwood, and are in a less-elevated position. The north side also contains more unit blocks as well as the all-important train line and a mass of shops and restaurants.
Century 21 Hurlstone Park principal Adrian Abrook says riverside streets in Hurlstone Park are cheaper than their Earlwood counterparts, with a house in a street close to the river starting in the mid $500,000s.
Peter Nelson Real Estate have listed a renovated two-bedroom house in the riverside cul-de-sac of Hilltop Ave in Hurlstone Park for sale for $539,000, which compares to a $910,000 3-bedroom house on Undercliffe Rd for sale through Raine & Horne Marrickville.

CASE STUDY

When Gavin and Sally Costello wanted to upgrade to a freestanding house after living in a two-bedroom unit at Marrickville, they naturally wanted to get the best value for their dollar.
For them, that meant hopping over to the other side of the Cooks River in Earlwood, where $575,000 bought them a semi on 450 sq m of land with views of Botany Bay.
“We were spending to a limit and we wanted to get the best possible house for the money,” Sally says.
“A great house, in a lovely street was what was important to us. There was no way that I wanted to go from a top-floor unit to a house where the only view out of the kitchen window was of a fence or the neighbours.”
The renovated semi has potential for a second-storey addition, an open plan family room, a rear deck and those lovely Bay views.
“It also has off-street parking for two cars, which we’d never have got in Marrickville. I like that we aren’t so crammed in,” says Sally, who is expecting the couple’s first child in December.
“We are having a family now and we want that feeling of space rather than the inner city.”