Multi-car garages earn must-have status in prestige Geelong market

McGrath, Geelong agent Tom Harrison road tests the indoor basketball area in the garage at 9-11 Mosman Way, Highton. Picture: Alan Barber

Enormous multi-car garages are cementing themselves as a favourite accessory for prestige buyers across urban Geelong.

Luxury car enthusiasts are among those driving demand for extra vehicle storage and elaborate workshops to display their motoring treasures.

Whitford, Newtown agent Heidi Trempel said older children staying at home longer was also fuelling the popularity of properties with garaging for two-plus cars or the space to build one.

RELATED: Newtown home six-car basement garage as buyers revved up

Geelong West renovation with super-sized garage nabs buyers

Prestigious Raith offers luxury living on grand scale

“Geelong people are obsessed with garages,” Ms Trempel said.

“With growing families and kids at home longer, they are all ending up with cars and then they can’t park them anywhere.

“But sometimes it’s not just cars, sometimes people want to use them for gym rooms with the soft floor … we have one in Villamanta St and that’s being looked at by people who are interested in things like woodwork, hobbies, car enthusiasts, caravaners and boating people.”

A passion for cars led vendors of one luxury Newtown home to incorporate a purpose-built six-car basement garage into their design.

A six-car basement garage has drawn buyers to 10 Mercer Pde, Newtown.

Builders of 29 The Esplanade, North Shore, went all out on this luxury vehicle display.

Going underground doesn’t come cheap, but it’s now become one of the biggest attractions of the $4.4m listing at 10 Mercer Pde, particularly among buyers who are already paying to store their luxury car collections off site.

“The bonus of that car accommodation is because obviously the higher value properties often attract people who potentially have more cars,” Ms Trempel said.

She ranks garages among the top three items on Geelong buyers’ wishlists and said, while difficult to quantify, they certainly boosted a property’s value.

“If someone says to me ‘we have got a garage but we’re going to convert it, should we do that?’ my immediate reaction is don’t,” she said.

9-11 Mosman Way, Highton, listed for $1.65m to $1.725m, has a six-car garage with an indoor basketball zone.

The five-car garage with rear access is also proving a popular feature of 43 Villamanta St, Geelong West, which is on the market for $1.2m to $1.3m.

McGrath, Geelong agent Tom Harrison said buyers were specifically seeking out one of his premium listings at 9-11 Mosman Way, Highton, because of its six-car garage.

With so such much parking space, the vendors have converted part of the garage into an indoor basketball zone.

“People just want a bit more space,” Mr Harrison said.

“I have had someone not even into cars who is living in a townhouse at the moment and he wants to find something with a four to six-car garage.”

The multi-car garage at 8 Cygnet Court, Lara, featured exposed timber rafters and was key to the $890,000 sale.

Jellis Craig Geelong agent Rena Maniatakis recently had multiple offers on 700sq m Lara property with a 4.5-car garage, which went under contract after the first open home.

“It’s a big main attraction, especially for men,” Ms Maniatakis said.

“People want either a four-car garage and that is also why corner blocks sell so well, because you can get a garage out the back through the other side.”

But Geelong real estate advocate Tony Slack said while off-street parking was a priority, many young families still preferred backyard space over big garages.

“Properties that tick all the boxes, including a four-car garage, are a rarity but having said that they will have some appeal to the right buyer who is prepared to pay for the privilege,” he said.

“It comes at a cost, either a trade off in another area or a financial cost.”

The post Multi-car garages earn must-have status in prestige Geelong market appeared first on realestate.com.au.