Property Of The Week: 56 Power Street, Hawthorn, VIC
An enviable lifestyle awaits with this modernised Victorian entertainer.
An enviable lifestyle awaits with this modernised Victorian entertainer.
A grand double-storey Victorian entertainer tucked neatly into one of Melbourne’s prized inner suburbs, ‘Girraween’ proves an enviable study in classic elegance and updated functionality for luxurious contemporary living.
Set well back from the street, enter the approx. 1190 sqm plot via a private and walled front garden and embrace an immediate sense of calm. Off the inviting, arched hallway sits the exquisite formal dining, sumptuous library, secondary living area and kitchen.
The latter delivers Smeg and ASKO appliances as well as HeatnGlo fireplace and contemporary cabinetry across a neutral white palette and continuation of Japanned floorboards.
Of the four well-appointed upstairs bedrooms, the master suite boasts WIR/dresser and luxurious modern ensuite with city views. A further bathroom and powder room can be found upstairs, with additional powder room on the ground floor.
Dating to c1883, classical ceilings abound here, so too marble gas fireplaces across the library, formal living and dining rooms as well as further modern musts such as hydronic heating, air-conditioning, alarm, video intercom and double-glazed windows.
The exemplary elegance of ‘Girraween’ extends across the rear and what is a delightful entertainer’s garden as lifted from the British countryside. The sun-soaked rear holds a huge deck, large grassed area and what is an established kitchen garden alongside a potager shed and remote-control garage with abundant storage.
Situated just 5km from the CBD, the property rests on the edge of the Grace Park Estate and within easy access to the elevated shopping and dining of Glenferrie Road and Kew Junction.
Nearby to trams and Hawthorn train station, so too parklands, the Yarra River and some of Melbourne’s finest schools, including Xavier, MLC, Trinity and more.
‘Girraween’ is a rare opportunity to own a property that affords not only an enviable lifestyle, but an updated slice of history that holds a tremendous sense of self.
EOI closing April 10, the property is with Kay & Burton’s Sam Wilkinson (0400 169 148) and Xavier Karagiannis (0427 367 330); kayburton.com.au/
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The US housing market remains under pressure as high mortgage rates continue to weigh on affordability and demand. Industry leaders say 2026 has been one of the toughest years for home sales, with slower price growth, weaker mortgage activity, and fewer buyers entering the market. However, experts say reduced competition and more price cuts could create opportunities for well-prepared buyers.
The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.
Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”
Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.
The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.
But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.
Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.
“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”
Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.
Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”
Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.
Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.