The luxury property market in Australia exhibited resilience in 2024, supported by strong demand from affluent domestic buyers and international investors. Despite broader economic uncertainties, the high-end property segment remained largely insulated due to resilient demand in high-net-worth individuals being less impacted by high financing costs, wider appeal including to expatriate and global executives and broader strong performance of business and share markets during the year.

Luxury property’s strong appeal is in contrast to the premium property sector (the top quartile of property values), with this segment seeing a more muted performance with growth of 2% nationally for the year, with an unchanged result in Sydney, Brisbane rising 7.2%, Perth rising 13.6% and Adelaide up 9%, with softer results in Melbourne (-4%), Hobart (-2.5%), Canberra (-0.8%) and Darwin (-0.1%). These results were below the wider capital city market which grew by 4.5% in 2024.

Looking forward to 2025, Australia’s luxury property market is set to continue to outperform the wider property market, supported by low exchange rates making Australian luxury property more appealing to offshore buyers, strong business and share market performance and lack of quality trophy luxury properties available.

The record price for luxury properties in 2024 was the reported $130 million sale of a Point Piper mansion which was sold off market. ‘Elaine’ Estate is an 1863-built residence set on a 6,986 sqm waterfront parcel and was purchased in 2017 for what was, at the time, a national house price record of $71 million. The 2024 sale matches the previous national house price record for another Point Piper home that sold in November 2022 for $130 million.

When it comes to Australia’s most expensive properties, Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs and Northern Beaches and Victoria’s Toorak lead the way. Here we take a closer look at the eastern states:

Sydney

Sydney’s trophy home market clocked up almost $1 billion worth of residential sales from the top 20 deals alone, making 2024 the best-performing year for the top end of the market.

The $130m Elaine estate at Point Piper in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs ranked as the priciest home sale of the year, whilst yet to settle.

The second highest national sale for the year, was the Wolseley Road ‘Rockleigh’ property, reportedly selling between $80 – $85 million in an off-market exchange at the start of the 2024. The property is a classic cottage on a 1,284 sqm block and is an original double-storey home with panoramic views of Sydney’s Harbour which was bought back in 1978 for just $325,000.

A Spanish Mission-style mansion, ‘Alcooringa’, in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill (27 Victoria Road), reportedly sold for circa $80 million in August 2024. The 7-bedroom home set on 1,560 sqm of land has views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and includes a private and separate self-contained 3-bedroom guest cottage with separate entry and garage. It was built in 1929 and was later the Tunisian consulate until 1965.

Also of note was the $51.5 million sale of ‘Notrella’, a Queen Anne Federation style home, again in the prestigious suburb of Point Piper. On a 958 sqm parcel and with impressive harbour views, the updated double-storey home has dual street access and consists of the main heritage house and a self-contained apartment, with separate guest quarters, four-car garage and a pool. Records show the home was last purchased in 2006 for $13.8 million, with approx. $6 million worth of updates completed from 2007.

The top performing suburbs for Sydney, which were all located in the Eastern suburbs, were Bellevue Hill, Vaucluse, Rose Bay, Dover Heights and Double Bay, which all continued to attract buyers due to their proximity to beaches, harbour views and top-tier amenities.

Melbourne

Toorak was the location of the top 5 sales in Melbourne in 2024. The most expensive property was a contemporary Toorak mansion in Macquarie Road. The property is reported to have sold for around $70 million at the end of the year. The property was advertised with a floor space of approx. 2,000 sqm and positioned on an elevated block of 3,200 sqm with 360-degree views across Melbourne.

Another noteworthy sale was on Toorak’s St Georges Road, which is often rated by agents as Melbourne’s best location. The property, known as ‘Karum’, is a Mediterranean Georgian Revival-style home on a 2,955 sqm site including a pool, spa and a champion-sized tennis court. Last purchased in 2014, the property underwent a major renovation prior to being listed for sale, and after 81 days on the market sold for $40 million in February 2024.

35-39 Albany Road which sold for approximately $40 million, a combined site at 54 Albany Road and 2 Myoora Road, Toorak transacted for a combined $40 million and 43 Lansell Road transacted for $33 million, rounding out the top 5.

On the Mornington Peninsular, three neighbouring homes in Sorrento have been purchased by the same buyers after an extraordinary year-long buying spree that included historic ‘Hindson House’. Since May 2023, the buyers have quietly picked up the adjoining clifftop mansions to create a record-setting $61 million family compound of circa 1.2 hectares in the elite holiday destination of Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. All three properties have direct access to the beach below and share a private jetty.

Brisbane and Gold Coast

Three properties on Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Lane at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, which boasts 34 metres of beach frontage, have sold for a total of circa $40 million. It is understood the purchasers plan to redevelop the site, which currently features a 1960s beach shack, a villa and a timber pole house, into a luxury family compound. The amalgamated purchase – which spans 1,525 sqm over three titles, tops the Mermaid Beach record set by a $28 million sale for a Hedges Avenue estate in February.

That sale included a four-bedroom, four-bathroom house which sits on a 1,214-square-metre corner block and features 30 metres of beach frontage. It comes with a self-contained apartment, a 25-metre lap pool, and was the third highest sale recorded in the State for the year.

The second highest sale was in Witta Circle, Noosa which sold for circa $30 million in May. Fully furnished and with lift access across its three levels, the turn-key residence is located 700 m from Hastings Street and comes with a 25-metre lap pool, an office, a music room, a gym and its own private jetty.

Summary

The well-documented shortage of genuine quality luxury properties, which are customarily tightly held, continues to underpin values in the asset class. January has already seen strong activity of trophy properties, with prestige agents reporting continued strength with discerning buyers remaining active for the right property.

Important information

The information contained in this article is gathered from multiple sources believed to be reliable as at January 2025 and is intended to be of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account any person’s objectives, financial situation or needs. NAB recommends that you seek independent legal, property, financial and taxation advice before acting on any information in this article.

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