South Sydney's George Burgess onsells recently settled Little Bay apartment
George Burgess, one of the high-flying South Sydney Rabbitohs brothers, and wife Joanna have managed to onsell their recently settled Little Bay apartment, but seemingly only at purchase price.
George, and his twin brother Tom, plus older brother Sam all grabbed an apartment off the plan in 2015 midway through the apartment price boom.
On its settlement in August, George and his wife Joanna sought to flip their penthouse purchase.
Having paid $1.35 million, the top-floor, two-bedroom apartment with terracing was initially listed at $1.45 million to $1.5 million, which would have more than covered expenses.
Their former South Sydney Rabbitohs teammate Beau Champion, from NG Farah, who listed the apartment with colleague Peter Goulding, recently posted the sale details at $1.35 million.
George and Joanna recently welcomed into the world their second child Birdie Maquelle. They had a son, Boston, last year.
TA Global developed the Illume (pictured above), comprising 179 residential apartments within three blocks of five-storey-high buildings on Anzac Parade.
The units were a collaborative design of by architect Tony Caro, along with Simon Mather of Mako Architecture. Bordering Little Cove Beach and four golf courses, the estate covers 13 hectares and with lakes, wetlands, bushland and walking trails.
It was Tom who outlaid the most of the Burgess brothers, seemingly with plans to move into his $1,405,000, two-bedroom purchase with his partner, former Miss Universe finalist Tahlia Giumelli, and their cavalier pup Ted.
Older brother Sam, who spent $955,000 on his two-bedroom apartment was also seeking a buyer after settlement, but has withdrawn it from sale to now accommodate a family member.
The twins attended the VIP launch in 2015 of the second stage of the development in August with mum Julie as guests of then McGrath Projects agent Dennis Vertzayias.
Sydney's off the plan market has faced issues upon settlement.
CoreLogic recently calculated that 30% of off the plan apartments were being valued at less than their original sale price.
It is a reversal on boom time years when developers had been utilising the sunset clauses in contracts, dragging apartments back from intending buyers because some could have risen so much.
Many apartments sold off the plan, at a time when housing conditions were much stronger and credit conditions weren’t as tight, noted Tim Lawless, Head of Research at CoreLogic.
“With the unit construction cycle moving through an unprecedented peak, the settlement phase will be an important facet of the market to monitor,” Lawless said.
Lawless says the combination of record new apartment supply and falling prices means that settlement risk is now “heightened”.
“Lenders will generally be looking for a loan to valuation ratio often closer to 80%, meaning buyers will need to top up their deposit in order to meet the lenders loan to valuation criteria.
This article first appeared in The Saturday Telegraph.
