Channel Nine newsreader Alicia Loxley is about to have her first test of the property market, listing a two-bedroom house in inner Melbourne for sale.
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Loxley, the anchor of the ratings-winning weekend 6pm bulletin, bought the brick Victorian in Vere Street, Abbotsford, in 2009, just under a year after she returned from several years working in Perth.
Loxley and husband Kane, who have two sons, recently moved into a bigger house to suit their expanding family.
She told Domain she quickly fell in love with what was her first home buy.
"It's a pretty quiet area, but it's on the doorstep of the city," Loxley said. "You could run home from work and be so close to everything.
"It was the perfect first house - just the right size."
Loxley said the pad had proved perfect for entertaining, with a cosy outdoor area seamlessly joining to the renovated kitchen.
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She and her family have loved the area, citing the Collingwood Children's Farm and Abbotsford convent as particular highlights.
"It's so close to everything, it has a good local feel, we love the local pub and it's a good, young family area," Loxley said.
Now planning to renovate in a neighbouring suburb, Loxley said she was experiencing first-time-seller nerves.
The couple has listed the property for sale with Andrew Crotty at Biggin & Scott.
Mr Crotty said Abbotsford was continuing to enjoy popularity with prospective buyers, even if many who started their search did so in another suburb.
"Ninety per cent of buyers start looking in surrounding suburbs - 70 per cent in Richmond and 20 per cent in Fitzroy, but once you educate them about Abbotsford and they see the Yarra goes through there, they come across and they love it," he said.
"Once they're there, they tell all their friends. It's one of Melbourne's best kept secrets."
Mr Crotty described the Loxleys' pad as the quintessential Abbotsford dream; on one of the suburb's best streets and with cafes around the corner, it was "as good as it gets".
Interest in the property was coming from first home buyers and empty-nesters looking to extend the house up or out, he said.
The Abbotsford market was hot, and always had been, Mr Crotty said, but recently renewed interest was down to the rejuvenation of Johnston Street, which was changing by the day.
The house goes under the hammer on October 14, with price expectations of between $1 million and $1.1 million.
