A home with a swimming pool was once the dream of many Australian families but many homeowners with pools are starting to get rid of them.
Homes with swimming pools are becoming a rarer site in Sydney now as homeowners look to subdivide their land to sell to developers for millions.
A range of pools snapped off their original blocks have come up for sale with price tags of A$1 million-A$3 million, with agents reporting the sites will most likely be transformed into duplexes, granny flats and other medium density housing.
Among the strips of land now on the market is a 980sqm block. The land, which is vacant apart from a swimming pool, was subdivided from one of the neighbouring houses and is for sale at A$2.25 million.
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A 775sqm block in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Mosman that includes just a pool and the surrounding paved area is up for sale through an expressions of interest campaign. Comparable blocks have sold between A$2.8 million and A$3.2 million.
A pool and backyard subdivided off house ion Sydney's north west is up for sale with a price guide of A$1.1 million to A$1.2 million.
Selling agent Max Pracy of Tracy Yap Realty said many homeowners no longer wanted pools or tennis courts and would rather unlock the value potential in their land.
“A lot has changed in the past 20 years,” Mr Pracy said. “There’s more interest in duplexes and granny flats and buyers often see being close to a train station as more important than having something like a pool.”
He added that a similar trend occurred with tennis courts — a tennis court subdivided off the neighbouring house recently sold for A$3.55 million.
Auctioneer David Scholes has sold off multiple tennis courts and other recreational space and said fewer people were interested in having larger spaces. He added that buyers tended to be drawn to opportunities to build new dwellings from scratch.
Master Builders Australia economist Shane Garrett said homeowners have been able to achieve high prices for land due to a crippling shortage which has kept blocks with building potential in short supply.
The blocks have also remained in high demand because new, shovel ready land was being released too slowly to meet Sydney’s rapid population growth, he said.
The high demand and low supply was driving city prices above those in many much larger global cities situated in more densely populated countries, Mr Garrett said.
- news.com.au
