It was the knock down rebuild project that never eventuated, but that was no barrier to an impressive capital gain for a Bar Beach property.
Three and half years after the vendors of 12 Light Street, Bar Beach paid $1.15 million for the property, with plans to replace the ageing two-bedroom brick residence, they sold it in near-identical condition on Saturday for a whopping $1.9 million.
It was one of 29 successful results recorded in Newcastle over the past week, with the region clocking a 61.7 per cent clearance rate - well down on the high watermark of more than 80 per cent recorded in November.
The $750,000 gain in Bar Beach was a reflection of the leaps and bounds made by the broader Newcastle market in recent years but also the 670 square metre block's versatility, selling agent Katie Kepner of Belle Newcastle.
"It is a really versatile block in the sense that its zoning allows it to be single residential house or some people might put two houses on there or look at it for a townhouse for the site, so that opens up its buyer pool a little bit," Ms Kepner said.
The buyer, who secured the property via negotiations just after the hammer fell, plans on doing an upgrade on the block in the future, though Ms Kepner said it was unclear what the scale of any new development would be.
The vendors, who had purchased in August 2018, had planned on knocking down the existing property but had been leasing it out in the interim while they made firm plans.
A change of mind, and the end of the tenancy, was motivation enough to list the property back on the market, Ms Kepner said.
Elsewhere in Newcastle, suburb records fell in West Wallsend and Cameron Park last week.
12 Bridge Street, West Wallsend sold for $1,205,000 at auction.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom property on a 1189 square metre block had been advertised with a guide of $950,000.
The previous record was set in July this year with the sale of 23 Conveyor Street for $962,000.
In Cameron Park a four-bedroom property on a 2138 square metre block at 6 Kippax Street sold for $1.27 million prior to auction.
The previous suburb record for Cameron Park was set by the sale of 32 Preston Place for $1.25 million in November.
