Following the Global Financial Crisis, Melbourne’s prestige market entered a period of renewed international attention, and an influx of returning expats and wealthy families competed for blue-chip homes.

At the same time, the market was entering new price territory. In 2014, RT Edgar broke Toorak’s per-square-metre record at the auction of 1 Berenice Terrace.

Limited supply versus local and international demand was compounded by Melbourne’s pandemic lockdowns of 2020 to 2021. RT Edgar was well-placed to guide clients through an unprecedented period that required not only market intelligence, but also trusted counsel and tailored marketing.

Scarcity of triple-A homes, luxury design and lifestyle still underpin the market today. RT Edgar draws on both heritage and innovation to shape the modern experience of transacting elite property, intersecting relationships and technology.

In 1990, RT Edgar moved to Toorak. Its presence at 1 Tintern Avenue reinforced the business' position, in its chief market, at a critical moment, ahead of major economic challenges to come.

The early 90s recession reset the Australian housing market, but a mature phase of growth emerged from it. RT Edgar’s connections and expertise came into its own in this climate of relative stability, which gave buyers the impetus to make a long-term commitment to a property.

RT Edgar’s approach to the market’s recovery was to cement its central leadership for the future, through the appointment of directors Jeremy Fox, Warwick Anderson and Michael Ebeling.

In 1996, the business unveiled new premises at 10 Wallace Avenue in Toorak, where it is headquartered today.

The turn of the millennium was marked by confidence and intense competition. Between 2000 and 2004, the Reserve Bank of Australia noted buyer activity collided with limited supply. RT Edgar was a trusted steward for vendors through this ultra-competitive period.

RT Edgar held its ground through the Global Financial Crisis, steering transactions in a market that slowed but did not collapse.

The agency was also transitioning. Robert was ready to retire, and Jack sought a new chapter at his property Tuerong Park on the Mornington Peninsula.

Anderson bought R.T. Edgar & Son as sole proprietor, hiring valuer John Geake and Harold Clapp, one of the city's most respected auctioneers.

With the city humming once again, the experienced trio prospered. R.T. Edgar & Son helped Woolworths secure new post-war premises in Moonee Ponds in 1954, and confirmed its prestige footprint beyond Hawthorn, Toorak and Armadale by listing across Kew, St Kilda and surrounds.

Throughout the '50s the trio also sold fine houses and farms in Dandenong and Frankston to wealthy families and graziers.

The 1960s saw modernist apartments become fashionable among prestige buyers, while a new language for luxury living - the “penthouse” - started to appear in R.T. Edgar & Son’s advertising.

The 1970s brought rapid development of townhouses and flats, suited to downsizers and contemporary lifestyles.

By this time, Jack Edgar had returned to real estate, launching commercial agency J.V. Edgar & Co with his son Jonathan. Colin took the opportunity to add to its leadership and sold some of his shares to John and Harold, who became partners.

Immediately, these young guns brought new ideas and influence, and expanded beyond Hawthorn into listing grand homes - Victorian, Queen Anne, Georgian Revival and Old English styles - in suburbs such as Toorak, Kooyong, Armadale, Malvern and Kew. This reach would pilot the business through the Depression of the 1930’s.

The firm opened a second office on fashionable Collins Street in 1933, run concurrently with the Hawthorn premises. Jack owned a speedboat, which he and Colin used to travel between offices. "They would take the boat from the Yarra down to the city, tie up at the bridge, and then go into the Collins Street office from there," Warwick says.

Jack was well placed within the upper echelons of society. He and Colin moved up the ladder and started operating in Portsea in 1936 to also represent their clients’ holiday houses. “The circle of people that they moved in at the time were the heavy hitters of Melbourne in those days,” Warwick recalls. “They connected with the bigwigs and acted for them.”

Some of the most popular auctions in the early 1930s onwards were blocks of land in Toorak from the mansions being subdivided or demolished, due to upkeep costs during the Depression. In their role, Jack and Colin were among the forefathers of contemporary Toorak. “Their early work on the subdivisions established some of the premier homes of Melbourne,” Warwick says.

By the tail of Australia’s prolonged economic downturn, the firm had not only endured but advanced its position, setting a 1937 Melbourne price record.

Soon, Edgar took on a partner, the financier Edward Hunt, who had been a real estate agent since 1884. They operated as R. T. Edgar and E. V. Hunt from 1901 out of offices in Glenferrie, Collins Street and Auburn, although they ceased their partnership in early 1903.

On his own and newly married to Adah Lyons, Edgar’s business blossomed as Melbourne grew. His decision to concentrate on properties in a blue-ribbon region from Hawthorn to South Yarra and Toorak proved tremendous foresight.

Edgar was the purveyor of prestige homes for Hawthorn’s well-to-do families before that category of real estate had been formally defined. That groundbreaking role was a natural extension of the circles he moved in and the loyal clients he cultivated.

In 1914, the Edgars settled into a magnificent Federation house named Farleigh at 36 Chrystobel Crescent, within the Grace Park Estate, designed by prominent Boroondara architect Christopher Cowper.

The Federation era was booming, and Edgar’s agency, and position in Hawthorn commerce and society, kept pace with it until the First World War broke out in 1914.