Anthony Albanese’s Copacabana dream may be soured as Dulwich Hill investment property drops price again

Georgina Noack
The Nightly
The townhouse, now for sale, is situated in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Dulwich Hill.
The townhouse, now for sale, is situated in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Dulwich Hill. Credit: Supplied

Anthony Albanese may have snagged himself a coastal dream house in Copacobana months ago, but he seems to be living a bit of a real estate nightmare with his now-moot investment property in Sydney’s inner west.

The prime minister first listed the Dulwich Hill investment property for $1.9 million in early September.

But it appears the three-bedroom townhouse is proving stickier than Mr Albanese may have first anticipated when he decided to “simplify his affairs”, and now the Labor leader is experiencing the cooling property market first-hand.

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Mid last week, while Albo was returning from the G20 Summit in Brazil, the price guidance for the home was lowered for a second time in as many months, dropping to $1.75 million.

The Dulwich Hill property’s price guide was dropped to $1.85 million in October, after it was pulled from auction on the eve of the sale event.

The three-bedroom townhouse has been an investment property and rented out
The three-bedroom townhouse has been an investment property and rented out Credit: Supplied

According to realestate.com.au, the townhouse’s single serious buyer was “being a bit cute with the price”.

The property hit the market a month after Mr Albanese and his partner Jodie Heydon purchased a $4.3 million home on the Central Coast clifftops of Copacabana.

The big spend left voters scratching their heads and sharpening their pitchforks, forcing Labor figures to defend their leader from accusations he was “out of touch” with real Australians’ cost of living woes.

The purchase only fanned the flames of public opinion — accusing the PM of forgetting his humble roots he waxed lyrical about — that erupted in May after the tenant of the Dulwich Hill property went public with his surprise eviction notice.

The revelation that Mr Albanese had dropped the rent to $680-a-week during COVID, where it remained until the end of the lease, did little to cool the red-hot criticisms.

The prime minister defended the decision to sell up saying his situation had changed.

The property hit the headlines earlier this year when tenant, Jim Flanagan, went to the media after being given notice to vacate.
The property hit the headlines earlier this year when tenant, Jim Flanagan, went to the media after being given notice to vacate. Credit: Supplied
The median house price in Dulwich Hill rise 52.5 per cent in the past five years.
The median house price in Dulwich Hill rise 52.5 per cent in the past five years. Credit: Supplied

Mr Albanese bought the home for $1.175 million in November 2015, when he was married to his former wife Carmel Tebbutt — meaning if and when it sells, it will still fetch a pretty return for the boy from the Camperdown housing commission block.

After dropping the price a second time, Albo’s real estate agent Shad Hassen told the Sydney Morning Herald’s CBD column the property was the victim to the changing market.

“I think the reason for it is quite simple. There’s been a slight change in the market, and the PM’s property is not immune to that change,” Mr Hassen said. He also told the column he was confident the property would sell soon.

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