Prestige Property: 22 Leyden Avenue, Portsea VIC
An architectural masterstroke is one of the peninsula’s finest homes.
By Terry Christodoulou
Fri, May 7, 2021 3:40pm
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Portsea has long been the coastal playground of choice for Melbourne’s well-heeled. Here, is one of the private peninsula’s finest.
This stately, 5-bedroom, 4-bathroom, 7-car parking property, of 3047sqm, enjoys an enviable location in the Portsea cul-de-sac overlooking Percy Cerutty oval.
Embracing a Hamptons-inspired, timeless style – every feature and material is of the highest quality, providing the ultimate family compound for multi-generational living.
Designed by Stephen Akehurst, the home is split into two buildings, separated by a central garden and 15-metre pool.
The main residence sees communal spaces, with hardwood flooring underfoot. Here, a chef’s kitchen fitted with a Paul Bocuse oven with butler’s pantry sits alongside a dining and living room, with open fire.
A private parent’s retreat is downstairs, with gas log fire and cellar and bar adding some adult sophistication to the space.
Additionally, a stone terrace runs the length of the building, serving as a spectacular setting for alfresco dining with integrated BBQ, pizza oven and woodfire.
Across the garden sees the second residence, providing three further bedrooms, two, bathrooms, a living space with gas log fireplace and a large lower floor rumpus. Also, here, basement and security parking for multiple vehicles.
However, it’s the gardens – designed by Robert Boden – that steal the show, playing host to a championship sized mod-grass tennis court, established hedges, stone paving and the aforementioned heated, self-cleaning saltwater pool.
The listing is with Rob Curtain (+61 418 310 870) of Peninsula Sotheby’s International, price guide between $15m-$16m. melbournesothebysrealty.com
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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.
