Vaucluse clocks up first $20 million house sale for 2018

Sydney’s trophy-home market shrank by one on Friday when the Palm Beach-style residence of  former Goldman Sachs director Karl Mayer and his wife Tanya sold in Vaucluse.

The ultra-contemporary residence was one of a handful of homes on offer in Vaucluse in the $20 million-plus range, in what has been one of the tightest high-end housing markets of recent years.

A shortage of listings has resulted in a dearth of top-end sales in the east this year, where only four sales have been completed.

These include the Rose Bay home of retail billionaire Brett Blundy for about $45 million, the $29 million sale of billionaire James Packer’s Bondi Beach bachelor pad, the Hordern family’s Bellevue Hill estate for $21 million, and last week’s Point Piper penthouse sale by property developer Phillip George.

In contrast, this time last year was the biggest to date for Sydney’s top end, with more than half a billion dollars changing hands from the top-20 sales alone.

The Mayer family’s sale price remains undisclosed by Bill Malouf, of LJ Hooker Double Bay, but it was being offered to buyers in the $20 to $22 million range before it sold. Settlement will confirm the result.

Mayer, who left the US investment bank in 2005 to co-found hedge fund Global Trading Strategies, purchased the Vaucluse property on Queens Avenue in 2009 for $5,625,000 from interior designer Isabelle Harris, wife of property funds management veteran Nick Harris.

The property has been rebuilt since to a design by X.Pace Design Group with a Palm Springs aesthetic and was completed in 2016.

The three level floor plan includes formal living areas with gun-barrel Harbour Bridge views, a swimming pool, home cinema, gymnasium, steam room and cellar.

It was originally listed with $25 million hopes in June last year with a different agent.

Prestige agents have been left short of top-end property to sell this year after a five-year bull run of sales that has seen the national house-price record broken twice since 2015.

The national house price high stands at $71 million for the Point Piper estate Elaine, topping the Vaucluse high of $70 million set in 2015 when billionaire casino mogul James Packer and his former wife Erica sold La Mer.