More than a year after a monster storm swallowed 50 metres of Collaroy Beach and destroyed beachfront homes, one of the locals has returned his house to the property market.
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The campaign to sell builder Patrick Finlay's two-storey house was interrupted on June 6 last year when huge waves and an eight metre king tide struck, leaving 10 houses that line the beachfront uninhabitable and at risk of falling into the sea.
Although there was no damage to Finlay's house, which is set back from the beach, three of the 10 beachfront homes that bore the brunt of the destruction remain unoccupied 14 months later.
As locals hold out in hope the state government will give approval for a seawall to be built to protect the homes, work started this week to restore the balcony of the Beach Club Collaroy.
Finlay first listed his Pittwater Road property with a $3.6 million guide last year, having redesigned the house since he bought it in 2006 for $2 million.
The four-bedroom home, with separate living areas and a level rear lawn with direct beach access, is now set to go to auction on September 23. McGrath's David Rothschild has a $4.2 million guide.
Fears the storm may have turned buyers off the beachfront look to have been baseless, after three contracts were issued within hours of the property hitting the internet on Monday.
Collaroy's median house price has risen 9.7 per cent in the past 12 months, to a high of $2,277,500, according to Domain Data.
Another house sale on Collaroy Beach that was interrupted by the storm involved property owned by Spiro Toursounoglou. At the time, an asking price of $3 million for the three-level house was set before its planned June 15 auction.
However, it was withdrawn when the storm hit, and is not expected to return to the market in the immediate future.
