A variable Australian property market holds firm in 2024 as west coast investors cash in
The old adage ‘as safe as houses’ still holds true for Australian property owners
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If there is one word to describe the Australian property market this year, it’s resilience.
That’s according to data released by CoreLogic today as part of its Best of the Best report.
Despite the cash rate remaining unmoved at 4.35 percent in 2024, home sales went up by 8 percent compared with last year and increased 6 percent on the previous five-year average. In signs that property continues to be a sound choice for investors, home values have risen 5.5 percent over the past 12 months, with the overall value of Australian homes now in excess of $11 trillion.
Head of research at CoreLogic, Eliza Owen, noted that there was significant ‘variability’ across markets, with Melbourne recording a fall of -2.3 percent in annual values while Perth saw home values rise by 21 percent over the same period. It was a similar story in regional areas, with regional Victoria experiencing falls of -2.7 percent and regional Western Australia witnessing a 15.5 percent increase.
Indeed, the Geraldton suburb of Beachlands in WA took out the top spot for the greatest increase in house values nationally, with a rise of 38.4 percent. In the unit market, Dolphins Heads in the Mackay region of Queensland experienced the most growth this year, with an increase in values of 52.8 percent. In capital city markets, Perth took out all 10 spots for strongest growth in house values.
While the greatest gains in terms of percentages were in the bottom quarter of the market, the greatest results were at the luxury end, with Sydney’s Mosman holding its position with the highest total value of house sales over the past 12 months at $1.652 billion.
While it has been a good year for those already in the market, there are indicators that conditions in 2025 could soften, with the final quarter of 2024 recording less robust results.
“The market’s initial strength in 2024 gradually waned due to declining demand, rising levels of advertised supply, and a shifting outlook for inflation and interest rates,” Ms Owen said.
However, she said an anticipated interest rate cut in the first half of 2025 and the possibility of wages growth next year made further increases in property values hard to predict.
“While market conditions are broadly expected to improve off the back of a cash rate
reduction in 2025, there will still be considerable diversity in housing market performance,” she said.
As tariffs bite, Sydney’s MAISON de SABRÉ is pushing deeper into the US, holding firm on pricing and proving that resilience in luxury means more than survival.
Early indications from several big regional real-estate boards suggest March was overall another down month.
The nearly 10,000-square-foot home stands right at the entrance to the Amazon billionaire’s grand, $165 million estate.
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A home that’s right at the entrance to Jeff Bezos’s Beverly HIlls estate, which the billionaire purchased for $165 million in 2020, is now on the market asking $19.8 million.
Shaded by mature olive trees, the three-story modern mansion on Angelo Drive spans nearly 10,000 square feet, and includes five bedrooms, a bar and lounge, a home cinema, a pool with floating benches, and a 15-car garage.
The modern home centers around a striking wood staircase that extends through all three floors, creating an eye-shaped spiral.
Other design choices include a full-height black marble fireplace, herringbone wood flooring, grayscale marble backsplashes in the kitchen and bathroom, banks of floor-to-ceiling windows and a seating area in the middle of the pool.
There is also an outdoor kitchen and eating area poolside, and a living space with sliding doors that open directly onto the pool deck, for indoor/outdoor living.
The home was built in 2021 and designed by Gabbay Architects for the owner, who purchased the underlying property for $4.1 million in 2015, according to property records accessed through PropertyShark.
The seller, who runs a Beverly Hills-based plastic surgery practice, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Benedict Canyon house came to market Friday with Tomer Fridman of Christie’s International Real Estate. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Bezos estate is also known as the Warner Estate, named after its first owner, Hollywood mogul Jack Warner of the Warner Bros.
After Warner, the 9-acre estate was owned by music executive and film producer David Geffen, followed by Bezos. The property includes a palatial Gregorian Revival mansion built in 1939 and designed by architect Florence Yoch to befit the status of one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.
At $19.8 million, the new listing offers quite a deal compared to other properties neighbouring Bezos. In Florida, the owner of a vacant lot next door to the Amazon founder’s estate on Indian Creek Island is asking $150 million for it.
An architect’s own home, this Tamarama beach house has been created with love.
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