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.
Lifestyle factors
I loved growing up near this area because I’m 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 from here, 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.
Renovations and subdivisions
On certain streets around Bellevue Hill 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 other streets such as 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.
Apartment lifestyles are becoming more appealing
I’ve sold quite a few apartments in this 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 and Scots right next door, 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.