One of the few remaining California bungalows in Austinmer, which backs on to the Glastonbury Gardens, is expected to exceed the $1.6 million price range at auction next month.
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The elegant 1930s three-bedroom home at 7 Toxteth Avenue is set on the high side of the street and has ocean views of Little Austi Beach.
Beautifully renovated, it has retained many original features, including ornate ceilings, polished timber floors and lead light windows.
Listed with Jason Ward and Justin Sydenham of Bevans Real Estate, Thirroul, the home has only had a small number of owners since it was built.
Mr Ward said the home had a level lawn which opened on to the popular Glastonbury public park and it was north-facing.
"I've been trying to help people buy properties that back on to Glastonbury Gardens for ages," he said.
"It's a highly desirable spot because there are only a few properties that back on to the gardens and when they come up, they are snapped up.
The sale of the Toxteth Avenue home is tipped to become one of the suburb's highest residential sales for a property in the 645-square-metres range.
Past top sellers in the suburb have been waterfront homes along Lawrence Hargrave Drive and in Yuruga Street; or properties with bigger land parcels which have been subdivided.
A five-bedroom house in Maxwell Street, on the western side of Lawrence Hargrave Drive, and set on 711 square metres, was sold last year for $1.725 million by First National Real Estate O'Connor.
Mr Ward is confident the merits of the Toxteth Avenue property and the current market conditions will deliver an auction price of more than $1.6 million.
"It's a great market at the moment for a quality home like that," he said.
"We've got a lot of pent up demand and a lot of buyers out there who are so frustrated.
"They keep attending auctions and missing out.
"Each time they miss out the properties go up in price and another five to 10 buyers come into the market as well, so the competition gets more fierce."
Mr Ward said the Austinmer housing market was extremely strong, driven by the lack of stock versus high demand.
"We've got a bottleneck in the system at the moment with baby boomers who have grown up with homes for which they paid $200,000 25 years ago," he said.
"Those homes are now worth more than $1 million but they don't know where to go and they've got nothing to buy.
"They've got three or four bedroom homes they don't need any more but they can't buy anything else. We've got families that want to move into the suburb but there is very little for them to buy as well."
The Toxteth Avenue home has bedrooms with built-in wardrobes and a renovated kitchen with Miele appliances.
It is double brick construction with a stunning curved alfresco dining area featuring the decorative brickwork of the era. Modern conveniences include ducted vacuum and airconditioning.
It will go to auction on Saturday July 11, at 11am onsite.
lturk@fairfaxmedia.com.au