Battling to find willing buyers in fashionable Bellevue Hill – as gap between asking and sale prices hits 25%: Title Tattle

The founder and managing partner of the corporate advisory firm O'Sullivan Partners, Tony O'Sullivan, and his wife, Marianna, founder of the children's fashion shop Arabella Boutique, have finally sold their  Bellevue Hill property (pictured above). Designed by Tzannes Architects, it fetched $6.95 million when bought by Edwina Horesman,  the fashionista who recently upgraded from her $3.15 million Drumalbyn Road, Bellevue Hill house. The Ginahgulla Road home  had been listed with $10 million-plus hopes in June 2010 shortly after its completion. The house set on a 1,030-square-metre block was built after the O"Sullivan family moved out in late 2006 to allow for its construction, only to subsequently get tempted and buy in Woollahra, where they seemingly now intend to reside.

Given the difficulty in selling Bellevue Hill, the couple had sought very briefly in March and April 2011 to offload the Woollahra acquisition but without success. The Tzannes-designed Bellevue Hill house, which sits amid Peter Fudge landscaping, has three levels. Its a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house with views across the harbour with a northern perspective. There is a self-contained guest wing with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchenette. The previous owners were the Cutler family, who sold at $3.45 million in 2004 after the O'Sullivans returned from six years in London.

 The O'Sullivans are not alone in their predicament, as Sydney's luxury market still suffers from a sales paralysis given a vendor class unprepared to quickly embrace revised price expectations that match cautious buyer offers.

 Elsewhere in the pricey eastern suburbs, stockbroker John Bowie Wilson and his wife, Sally, have listed their two properties simultaneously for sale. Their Double Bay waterfront apartment – which has been renovated by architect Nick Tobias since the couple bought it for $5.8 million in 2010 – is for auction. Laing+Simmons Double Bay agent Sally Hampshire and Raine & Horne Double Bay agent Martin Maskin have price hopes of $8.5 million for its August 27 auction. The longstanding Point Piper residence, where the Bowie Wilsons have lived since 1997, has also been recently relisted for sale  through Agency by Alison Coopes with offers due August 29.

Designed by architect Michael Suttor, with Michael Love interiors, the Wyuna Road house had been on the market in May last year, when listed with $10 million plus hopes through other agents. It last traded at $1,629,000 in 1997 when bough from the Wohl family. 

Another case of a swap almost coming off the rails occured when the property developer and yacht racing identity George Snow and his wife, Sabrina, sought for many months to sell Deauville (pictured above), the 1935 five-bedroom Point Piper harbourfront residence with direct frontage to Lady Martins Beach. It sold for about $13.6 million, but it was 13 months after the Longworth Avenue house went to June auction last year when it was passed in at $16.1 million while seeking $17 million plus.

In the meantime their Keltie Bay, Darling Point penthouse, which was bought for $8.5 million, was put up for sale as they explored their options. 

Deauville was bought by the Haifer family, who've sold in Bellevue Hill for about $10 million. Coppernoll, the Haifer family's 1920s Kambala Road residence, sold off-market having been extensively renovated in 2003 after it was traded for $2.85 million in 2000. The Kambala Road property was briefly listed with $10 million hopes in 2004. The 1,347-square-metre property has a wide street frontage and security gates that open to a driveway down to two double garages and a porte cochere. The rear comes with a wide covered terrace overlooking the swimming pool and level lawn.

Returning from his lengthy overseas posting, Macquarie banker Tim Bishop and his wife, Stacey, have decided not to return to their Bellevue Hill house, but rather buy Ecclesbourne, the Ocean Avenue Double Bay property through LJ Hooker agent Bill Malouf. At a reported $9.5 million, it was sold by recruitment executive Mark Kerry and his interior designer wife, Lynda Kerry, who renovated the circa-1840s heritage-listed house after they bought it from the Cancer Patients Assistance Society of NSW. Mark was a backstroke and freestyle swimming champion, the winner of three Olympic medals. The Bishops' Kambala Road bungalow, with development approved plans, remains listed through Malouf.

The latest big Bellevue Hill listing is the former Toorak banker Mike Tilley, who came up from Melbourne to work for the Packer family of Bellevue Hill. He  parked himself on Bulkara Road, paying $8.4 million in 2005. Bill Malouf at LJ Hooker Double Bay is entrusted with the prestige listing (pictured above), having come off some recent big sales. Set on 1,286 square metres, the renovated residence showcases French Moderne interiors by designer Sally Greenaway. The gardens come with generous outdoor living areas and large gas-heated swimming pool.

 Title Tattle likes to tell readers of all the property deals as soon as they happen – if not before – so the latest word from Bellevue Hill is that it was the Scali family - Nicodemo and Johanna - who recently spent the $9.5 million through Malouf to buy from the Malouf  family. It sold within 28 days of listing suggesting the vendors had been well conditioned on current market condistions. Designed by Bruce Stafford Architects, the 1,143 sq m holding comes with northerly harbour views.