Tiny slivers of land with electricity boxes – some even sporting hazard signs – have been selling for unimaginable prices across Sydney.
The latest sales saw three small properties previously owned by Ausgrid change hands late last week in Sydney’s lower north shore, including two properties in Mosman and one in Neutral Bay. These sales followed a raft of Ausgrid land sales in April.
Local sources revealed the properties would need a creative buyer, not only due to their minimal space, but because they still contained live electricity boxes or remnants of old substations.
Yet the properties have sold for huge prices due to the lack of empty land in what are some of Sydney’s most sought after locales.
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37 Vista Street is only 101 sqm with an electricity box on it.
The structure on the Mosman block.
In Mosman, 37 Vista St, a 101 sqm block which hosts an electricity substation and an old structure had a price guide of $475,000 with reports showing it sold over $650,000.
The smallest of the three properties, 9 Anderson Rd in Neutral Bay, a triangular shaped piece of land set across only 31.6 sqm, had a guide of $60,000, according to Mosman Collective.
The Neutral Bay land neighbours a structure that shows hazardous and “keep out” signs.
Despite this, the property sold for more than three times that amount at $189,000, according to reports of those who attended the auction.
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The triangular shaped Neutral Bay land.
Keep out and hazard signs line the Neutral Bay block.
The other Mosman property up for grabs was a 50 sqm block on the corner of Bardwell Rd and Lindsay Lane. Reports indicated it had a guide of $300,000 and sold just over for $360,000.
Selling agent BresicWhitney’s Scott Thornton said the sites captured the imagination and interest of the market.
“Buyers could see the potential and how unique they were. The desirability of the lower north shore also drove demand, with the area remaining one of Sydney’s most sought-after lifestyle destinations,” he added.
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Corner Bardwell Road & Lindsay Lane is only about 50 sqm.
50 sqm substation property sells around $360,000. Agents say it would take a creative buyer for these types of properties.
It comes as other electricity box properties had been offloaded earlier in the month selling between $800,000 and $1.8m via Belle Property’s Simon Harrison.
Mr Harrison said he had “never sold anything like them”.
The properties were attracting “a lot of interest” because they were an opportunity to get into popular north shore suburbs for a cheaper price, Mr Harrison said.
“We are getting some interest from first-home buyers and mum and dad-types who want to build something. You’d have to be very creative,” he said prior to the sales.
Social media has erupted over one of the listings – the Longueville block that already went to auction – with comments ranging from puzzled to furious.
Many of these properties still have live electricity boxes that can’t be moved.
“This has to be a late April fool’s joke,” said one comment. Another said: “God they are desperate”.
A common theme was disappointment that the site was not being used for open space instead.
“How about planting trees and flora, create a small park for wild life and people to access. That block is not suitable for a home or town house. That would be a shoebox of a unit with no yard. Absolutely ridiculous. It’s all about $$. What a joke,” one social media user said.
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