Price tag drops on Cheltenham rarity after it fails to sell

Properties bordering the golden sands of Devonport's Cheltenham Beach rarely come up for sale - and tend to be snapped up quickly.

But one 2023sq m spot halfway along the beach, which made headlines with its massive price tag two years ago, is back on the market after failing to sell.

Listed by Premium Real Estate for $10 million in 2007, the asking price for 26 Oxford Terrace has dropped by almost $3 million. Precision Real Estate and Harcourts are listing the three-level Art Deco home on a 2007sq m site at $7.25 million, still well above its capital value of $4.2 million.

"The expectation when it initially came on the market in 2007 was significantly higher than what it is now," said Tom Kane of Precision.

"There's been quite a low number of high-value properties sold in the last two years. The top end of the market is slower than it was in the heat of the market in 2006 but it's showing every sign of coming back again."

Kane said the property, which has been owned by the same family since the house was built in 1941, wasn't being advertised.

"There is no panic or urgency to see the property sold. It will sell when it's ready to sell."

The property has also been listed with Barfoot & Thompson and agent Toni Gregory said there had been strong interest from overseas.

The property could be subdivided but Kane hoped it would remain in one piece as a family home. There was scope for extensive renovation, he said. Other Cheltenham properties have been selling quickly. A one-bedroom apartment at the North Head end of the beach was snapped up for $900,000.

"There was plenty of interest," said Gregory. "Opportunities like that don't come along very often."

Beachfront specialist Victoria Bidwell of Bayleys says most beachfront properties sell quickly.

"The North Shore hasn't seen a lot of very top-end sales in the last couple of years because of the downturn but the handful of properties that have sold have all been either beachfront or near beachfront."

Cheltenham properties come up rarely because it is such a sought-after place to live, she says.

"I've never had anyone selling a house on Cheltenham Beach because they want to move somewhere else," says Bidwell.