Fancy a luxury home with a tennis court? That'll be $18m, thanks
Skyrocketing land values, shrinking lot sizes, and Queensland's housing squeeze are fuelling the value of private tennis courts that some argue could be sold off to free up space for more housing.
Research from Ray White reveals homes with tennis courts — often as large as 1000 sqm — have become tightly-held, hot property, with listings dropping to their lowest level since 2011.
New data from McGrath Research supports this, with figures showing the share of 'super-prime' properties — $10m-plus in Sydney and $7m-plus elsewhere — with a tennis court sold last year was only eight per cent — compared to a 23 per cent in 2020.
The average price for a 'super-prime' property with a tennis court in Australia is a whopping $18.2m, and such properties can command a 39 per cent premium, according to McGrath.
'Most super-prime lifestyle properties continue to be firmly held in the top echelon of the market, especially reflected in the premium being paid for those equipped with a tennis court,' McGrath Estate Agents head of residential research Michelle Ciesielski said.
'Whilst many high-end buyers are seeking them for lifestyle, they're likely better positioned to hedge for a long-term play — especially if their tennis court can one day be easily subdivided from their estate.'
Ray White economist Atom Go Tian said tennis court home listings had been falling since the pandemic, and that it was possible homeowners were holding on to private tennis courts because they saw the long-term land value.
'We are definitely seeing there is a premium to holding properties with a tennis court,' he said.
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But he said it was unlikely that selling off private tennis courts would have much impact on the housing crisis.
'Even if you converted all those tennis courts into housing, the impact on first homebuyers would be marginal at best.'
According to McGrath, only 52 'super-prime' tennis court properties were listed for sale across the country in the past 12 months, yet there's plenty of appetite for them.
Earlier this year, a clifftop tennis court on 3576 sqm at 2 Caraar Creek Lane, Mornington, sold for an undisclosed price after being listed for between $7.5m and $8.2m.
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There wasn't even a house on the site, but it boasted panoramic views over Port Phillip Bay and a blue-ribbon address in one of the Mornington Peninsula's most exclusive neighbourhoods.
On the Gold Coast, a tennis court in Hope Island sold last year for $2.9m, and a developer snapped up a 915sq m site comprising a tennis court and recreational facilities in Labrador to make way for a new housing development.
In Sydney, jaws dropped when a 900 sqm former tennis court on Woolwich Rd in Hunters Hill sold at auction for $3.55m.
McGrath agent Nick Berman, who recently sold a tennis court property in the Hills District for $3.5m, said some buyers saw tennis courts for their potential to subdivide and build on.
Mr Berman said the buyers of 69 Arcadia Rd, Galston, were after a lifestyle property that offered acreage, a pool and a tennis court.
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