The weighted average capital city median price is well up for houses and other dwellings.
2 min
Australian house prices are rising at the highest quarterly rate in 10 years, according to the latest Real Estate Market Facts report from the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA).
According to REIA President, Adrian Kelly, the weighted average capital city median price increased by 6.8% for houses and by 2.7% for other dwellings.
“Over the March quarter, the weighted average median house price for the eight capital cities rose to $873,911 with all cities increasing except Canberra. At $1,309,195, Sydney’s median house price continues to be the highest amongst the capital cities, 49.8% higher than the national average. At $500,000, Perth has the lowest median house price across Australian capital cities, 42.8% lower than the national average.
“Over the 12 months to the March quarter, the weighted average capital city median house price increased by 11.1%.
“The weighted average median price for other dwellings for the eight capital cities increased to $621,313, a quarterly increase of 2.7%,” said Mr Kelly.
Mr Kelly also added that median prices for other dwellings increased in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Hobart and Darwin, remained steady in Brisbane and Canberra but decreased in Adelaide.
The median rent for 3-bedroom houses increased in all capital cities over the March quarter to a median of $452.50 per week.
“Over the past 12 months, the median rent increased in all capital cities except Melbourne where it remained steady. Darwin had the highest annual growth at 17.3% and now has the second highest rent at $538.50 a week with Canberra the highest at $570 per week.
According to the report, the national capital city vacancy rate is at 3.3% primarily up due to Melbourne’s rate of 6.1%.
Mr Kelly concluded the growth coincides with the April 2021 Lending to Households and Business figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics which show that the value of new loan commitments for housing rose for the second consecutive month after a brief fall in February which came after eight consecutive months of growth.
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A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
3 min
For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.
