Freemans Bay

By ROBYN WELSH

Neatly tucked between Ponsonby to the west and the city centre to the east, Freemans Bay has a touch of both worlds about its housing.

Its mix of old and new homes includes gracious villas, workingmen's cottages, ex-council flats and the enclave of 1970s-style townhouses near the shopping centre.

The ex-council flats are popular with first-home buyers, with prices starting at $200,000. The large townhouses are priced from around $400,000 for a do-up, while the larger, older homes on big established sections are in the $1 million-plus bracket.

Just 10 minutes' walk from the CBD, five minutes' walk to the Ponsonby Rd restaurants and minutes to the Harbour Bridge, Freemans Bay has the enviable appeal of elevated sunny views across the central city.

It's a combination that's attracting more professionals than families from the eastern suburbs, as well as buyers from nearby Ponsonby, Westmere and the southern slopes of Herne Bay who are trading up.

Prices up to $1.2 million are not uncommon here for the finest homes reminiscent of Freemans Bay's colonial development in the 1850s.

The recent sale of an old house on a 351 sq m property for $640,000 is an indication of the money being spent on a suitable site for a new home close to the city.