Buyer's Guide to this Bellevue Hill Neighbourhood
James Dunn is born and bred Eastern Suburbs, growing up in Bellevue Hill on Suttie Road and has been servicing the area since 2004.
Diverse mix of housing and people
Around the Suttie Road, Warren Road end it’s a bit more suburban than other parts of Bellevue Hill, mostly bigger houses and it’s more so young families who are living there, when you get up closer to Carlotta Road and Bellevue Road here, you'll find more apartments, younger couples, singles and downsizers.
The beauty about Bellevue Hill overall is you’ve still got your smaller apartments and you’ve got your houses, it’s such a mix of different people that are living there, the school I went to, Cranbrook, is a very diverse school, like the Eastern Suburbs in general.
It's just really interesting to have such a small area with everyone in such close proximity and the diversity of everyone all seems to mix in together.
Lifestyle factors
I loved growing up around this area because it has Cooper Park, which has got tennis courts, I’m also a very keen surfer and it’s an easy drive down to Bronte or Tamarama to surf but then you’re not there in the thick of things, you can kind of get away from it.
You've got Bellevue Road, where there’s been a lot of great cafes which have just opened up, and great little restaurants, so it’s become such a desirable area to live.
It’s also close to Double Bay which is really booming at the moment with new cafes and restaurants - particularly with the new Woolworths and About Life, the beauty of living here is that access to the city and the beaches is so easy.
Zoning changes are driving development
On certain streets here you can subdivide the land, Carlotta Road has now got the R3 zoning, and you’re starting to see quite a lot of neighbours coming together and selling in one line, to either put in blocks of apartments or what have you.
This has just happened recently on Bellevue Road, a sale off market, the neighbours are looking to join the two properties together and put on six apartments.
On the other streets near by like Suttie Road, Kulgoa or Victoria, the zoning is more the fact that they are just doing additions to the house, knocking the house down, building a new house, or just renovating what's currently there or adding a new level if it’s a single little bungalow.
High demand for one bedders
Interestingly now a lot of one bedrooms places seem to be in higher demand and the prices for them are also really high, what I’ve noticed is a lot of people don’t seem to be getting married until their thirties now, and by the time you’re mid, late twenties you don’t really want to living with three other people, so the one bedroom rental demand is very strong and that’s the same on the sales side now too.
Constant renovations going on
If you drive up the streets around here you'll find that on every second street there’s about three or four houses renovating at any one time and that seems to be the trend in a lot of areas, but Bellevue Hill, Double Bay, Rose Bay and Woollahra specifically.
It’s phenomenal the amount of work people are doing.
Also some people have been in some of the houses for forty years, then they sell it and it's still an old style bungalow, a young family comes in, they want to put their own touches on things, it’s all about keeping things fresh and new.
Both sides of the hill have their draw cards
Many years ago people used to say that they want to live on the Double Bay side of the hill, so from Victoria Road, Kambala Road down, closer to the Double Bay side, but now the other side has become very desirable as well.
These days the other side, so I'm talking about your Salisbury Road, Latimer Road and Beresford Road around there, is achieving the prices which we’ve only really seen on the other side of the hill previously, I think it's because it’s a bit closer to the beach so it just depends on what the buyers want.
Apartment lifestyles are becoming more appealing
I’ve sold quite a few apartments in the area and it’s interesting to see that a lot of the younger families now like the lifestyle of having an apartment, easy to lock up and leave, you don’t have to worry about maintaining the gardens and the pools, more sort of a European or New York lifestyle.
Personally I think this trend will start come into play quite a bit more, people are so busy these days and time poor that they don’t want to have to worry about cleaning the big pool and doing the garden, they can live close to all the amenities and take their kids to the beaches which are close by, that seems to be what they prefer.
People move here for the schooling options alone
There's lots of quality schools accessible from here, you’ve got Cranbrook which is pretty close which I went to, Cranbrook and Scots are close, then you’ve got Holy Cross and Reddam which are not too far away, I know people that are buying here specifically so they can get their kids up towards Reddam and also Cranbrook, and then Ascham’s close as well.
Parents are investing in apartments for their kids
There’s plenty of investors here particularly closer to Double Bay or Bellevue Road, and also Carlotta Road down towards Double Bay and up towards Edgecliffe Road, definitely in there, and a lot of them seem to be parents who own houses in Woollahra, Bellevue Hill, or bigger house in Double Bay.
Their kids go to Cranbrook , Ascham, Scots or Reddam or what have you and they are buying little investment properties for the them for the future.