Max’s Beach House in Fairhaven sells for $10 million

THE record price for a residential house in the Surf Coast Shire has just reached eight figures, with the “Max’s Beach House” in Fairhaven selling for $10 million today (Tuesday, November 9).

The five-bathroom, six-bathroom property at 310 Great Ocean Road is famous globally for its role as one of the locations in 1979 Australian blockbuster Mad Max.

Sitting on the primary dune above the 6km long Fairhaven beach, the house is one of only two on the ocean side of the Great Ocean Road in Fairhaven and is described by Great Ocean Properties as a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and being in “arguably the best position on the west coast of Victoria”.

Great Ocean Properties director Marty Maher said the property was quoted at $10 million about six weeks ago but had been on “a bit of a journey” before the sale.

“We originally started a touch higher than that previously, then we took it off the market, then we thought we would put it back on as lockdown came on again because people had nothing else to do but look at their computers.

“Our inquiry levels picked up dramatically over the past month, but the key to these upper-end properties is just who’s around in the market at the time with the capability, and hopefully you’ve done your job well enough marketing-wise to make them aware it’s available.”

He did not disclose the buyer’s identity but said “they were looking for something very special, they were in the market at the time, and fell in love from the first moment they saw it”.
“The privacy and the proximity to the beach is the rarest commodity on the Surf Coast, and that’s what they really loved.”

Great Ocean Properties was the agent for the previous record-holder, 4 Ocean Boulevard in Jan Juc, which sold for $8 million less than two months ago.

Mr Maher said having a house sell for $10 million on the Surf Coast was likely a one-off, but believed the Great Ocean Road region should be valued more highly compared to prestige locations such as Sorrento and Portsea.

“I’ve always felt the area is undervalued for our natural resource and I think we’re just in catch-up mode.

“$10 million doesn’t go that far over there but I think the natural beauty and our proximity to Melbourne is certainly worthy of higher price points.”