$3.2m for Hills state-of-the-art home
May 19, 2009 11:15pm- AdelaideNow
AN architecturally-designed Balhannah house has defied the global downturn by setting a new sales-price record for an Adelaide Hills property.
In a positive sign for the real estate market, the 6.27 ha property sold for $3.28 million at auction on Sunday, beating the previous Hills record of $3.15 million.
The record-breaking property, which was built in June last year, features a solar heated lap pool and spa, a 113,500-litre underground water storage system plus dam and bore and views of the Onkaparinga Valley.
During the three-week sales campaign, agents Candy Bennett and Jamie Brown showed the property to more than 100 people.
Ms Bennett said the sale price showed faith in the state's top-end market.
"Adelaide has not been affected as badly as other parts of the world, but it shows if it's a really good quality, unique offering, there are people who see the value and are prepared to pay for it," Ms Bennett said.
"It's a good healthy outcome and hopefully will give people a bit more confidence." New owners Andrew, 42, and Sarah Hodgson, 41, who currently live about 1km away at Hahndorf, said they had their eyes on the property since it was built.
"We liked the north aspect looking over the Lofty Ranges and being of 6.27 ha gives you that privacy," Mr Hodgson said. "We loved architect Max Pritchard's designs and it's a state-of-the-art construction in regards to the technology.
"We weren't really optimistic (going into the auction) and we were hoping we'd be successful but we didn't feel 100 per cent confident because there was lots of interest."
As for the record price tag, Mr Hodgson said "it was a fair price because the owner obviously spent a lot of time and money on it."
Real Estate Institute of SA president Robin Turner said properties "offering value, even at the extreme end of the price spectrum, are still in hot demand and we've seem numerous multimillion-dollar sales lately."