Luxury Apartment Spending Sky High

Sales of luxury apartments worth more than $10 million have risen nearly eightfold during the first half of 2021 when compared to the decade average according to Knight Frank research.

Ultra-rich buyers have splurged more than $650 million in Sydney alone with 67 super-prime luxury apartments changing hands around the country – a steep rise from the 8.7 average annual sales over the past 10 years. Of note, the majority of the transactions were at Crown Residences at One Barangaroo.

Knight Frank defines super-prime properties as the top 1% of each market by value. Around the country that sees a threshold of more than $10 million in Sydney and Melbourne and $7 million in Brisbane, Perth and the Gold Coast.

The recently coined ‘rightsizer’ – those downsizing from stately homes to luxury apartments – tended to target newly built or off-the-plan apartments. However, Sydney differed from the rest of the country where the lack of new stock forced buyers to look at existing builds according to Michelle Ciesielski, Knight Frank’s head of residential research.

“The surge in demand was driven by ultra-wealthy buyers looking for a low maintenance apartment with house-like proportions for entertaining, as well as those seeking a secured luxury apartment residence that can be easily locked up when they jet off for long periods of international travel again next year,” she said.

Higher demand for luxury apartments has lifted values for new apartments by 46% since June 2015 – outperforming the established apartment market which recorded a strong, 31% increase in major cities.

Sydney was the only city that didn’t follow the trend, with the older stock soaring by 48% compared to 30% for new apartments.

Ms Cieselski said apartment values should continue to rise further in the years ahead, with a falling supply forecast.

“In contrast to increasing demand, the pipeline of new apartments in prime regions around Australia will fall by 39% over the next three years across low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise projects, which will mostly be felt in Brisbane and Sydney,” she said.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is selling his Northern California estate, which was listed Monday for $24.5 million.

Located in Atherton, an extremely affluent town northwest of Palo Alto and about 30 miles south of San Francisco, the 3.36-acre property is made up of three parcels that Schmidt acquired over the years, according to public records and Compass, who has the listing.

Schmidt, 69, and his wife, businesswoman Wendy Schmidt, purchased the main home in 1990 for $2 million, according to public records accessed via PropertyShark. They remodelled the 1969 home in 2007, and at that time, bought a neighbouring parcel of land, allowing an expansion of the main house and the addition of a guest house, according to Compass, who holds the listing. A third parcel was later acquired, on which the Schmidts added an English garden house and landscaped grounds overlooking the Eastern Hills.

“Finding three contiguous parcels in Atherton is rare. Even rarer are those with views of the Eastern hills,” said listing agent Katharine Carroll of the reSolve Group at Compass. “The location of this residence is ultra private, at the back of a cul-de-sac with the main house built into a hillside that provides privacy and very good security.”

Across the estate, there are five bedrooms, five full bathrooms and six half bathrooms.

The 5,265-square-foot main house also offers a number of private outdoor spaces on its upper level, including a large terrace off the primary suite, another large terrace off a secondary bedroom, plus a third smaller terrace and two balconies.

Behind the main house is a patio with a pool and spa. For even more outdoor space, there’s an entertaining pavilion, an open lawn and an outdoor fireplace area near the guest quarters.

The grounds themselves are also a standout feature, with an array of mature plants and specimen trees. The upper portion of the property’s landscaping is designed around an Amdega-designed conservatory, which was imported from the U.K. Around the greenhouse, there is a garden of raised beds and fruit trees, Carroll said.

“From the moment you step onto the grounds, it feels as if you’ve been transported to a private botanical sanctuary,” she said.

Schmidt served as Google’s CEO from 2001 to 2011, and then became the company’s executive chairman until 2015. He could not be reached for comment.

This article first appeared on Mansion Global

Luxury Apartment Spending Sky High

Spending on super-prime apartments has surged in the first half of 2021.