Australian Prime Property Market Continues To Surge | Kanebridge News
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Australian Prime Property Market Continues To Surge

After a steady year, even greater growth is predicted across cities in 2021.

By Terry Christodoulou
Wed, Feb 24, 2021 5:27amGrey Clock 2 min

Luxury residential price growth was consistent across Australia in 2020, but strongest in smaller cities, with greater growth forecast for 2021, according to the results of the Prime International Residential Index (PIRI 100) in the forthcoming edition of Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report 2021.

The PIRI 100, which tracks luxury residential prices across the world’s top 100 residential markets found five Australian cities – Perth, Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne – were ranked in the top 65 for luxury residential market performance over the past year.

It’s smaller cities that shone in 2020, with Perth coming in as the top performer at number 24 with 3.6% annual growth, the Gold Coast following at 36 with 3.2% annual growth and Brisbane at 44 with 2.5% growth. Sydney and Melbourne both held up well in what was a tumultuous year for the global market, with the Harbour city coming in 56 (1.1%) and Melbourne 63 at (0.9%).

“In 2020, 29 per cent of locations saw prices decline year-on-year, up from 21 per cent in 2019, however, five markets also registered double-digit price growth in 2020, compared with just two the previous year,” said Knight Frank’s head of residential research Australia, Michelle Ciesielski.

“Australia’s luxury residential property market fared well, with three of the five cities included in the PIRI 100 recording growth greater than the global average, and in the case of Perth, nearly doubling it,” Ciesielski added.

Knight Frank Data
Courtesy: Knight Frank.

The future of the prime market looks bright with the Knight Frank report forecasting luxury residential property prices in Perth, the Gold Coast and Sydney to rise by three per cent over 2021, while Brisbane is predicted for a two per cent rise and Melbourne to grow at a slower one per cent.

The forecast comes off the back of demand for luxury property in Australia continuing to be strong,  boosted by the ongoing pandemic and the continuing return of expats.

“Property prices in Perth are coming off the back of several years of price decline, but recently population growth has improved with prospering mining activity and resilient commodity prices, and this has led to a strong rebound in the residential market,” said Shayne Harris, national head of residential, Knight Frank.

“In Sydney, it’s the super-prime property market – those sales exceeding $10 million – which is driving up the overall prime performance as we see our ultra-wealthy clients upgrading the family’s main residence and buying new holiday homes as international travel is likely to remain subdued in the coming years.”

 

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The Fremantle cottage rewriting the blueprint for conjuring space

You’ll never guess where they found a little extra room when renovating this west coast house

By Robyn Willis
Wed, Mar 22, 2023 4 min

There was a time, not too long ago, when the most important must-have for would-be renovators was space. It was all about space to be together and space to be apart.

But as house prices increase across the country, the conversation has started to shift from size for the sake of it towards more flexible, well-designed spaces better suited to contemporary living.

For the owners of this 1920s weatherboard workers’ cottage in Fremantle, the emphasis was less on having an abundance of room and more about creating cohesive environments that could still maintain their own distinct moods. Key to achieving this was manipulating the floorplan in such a way that it could draw in light, giving the impression at least of a larger footprint. 

See more stories like this in the latest issue of Kanebridge Quarterly magazine. Order your copy here

Positioned on a site that fell three metres from street level, the humble four-room residence had been added to over the years. First order of business for local architect Philip Stejskal was to strip the house back to its original state.

“In this case, they were not quality additions,” Stejskal says. “Sometimes it is important to make sure later additions are not lean-tos.”

The decision to demolish was not taken lightly. 

“Sometimes they can be as historically significant as the original building and need to be considered — I wouldn’t want people to demolish our addition in 50 years’ time.”

Northern light hits the site diagonally, so the design solution was to open up the side of the house via a spacious courtyard to maximise opportunities to draw natural light in. However, this had a knock-on effect.

A central courtyard captures northern light. Image: Bo Wong

“We had to make space in the middle of the site to get light in,” Stejskal says. “That was one of the first moves, but that created another issue because we would be looking onto the back of the neighbouring building at less appealing things, like their aircon unit.”

To draw attention away from the undesirable view, Stejskal designed a modern-day ‘folly’.

“It’s a chimney and lookout and it was created to give us something nice to look at in the living space and in the kitchen,” Stejskal says. 

“With a growing family, the idea was to create a space where people could find a bit of solitude. It does have views to the wider locality but you can also see the port and you can connect to the street as well.”

A garden tap has also been installed to allow for a herb garden at the top of the steps.

“That’s the plan anyway,”  he says. 

A modern day ‘folly’ provides an unexpected breakout space with room for a rooftop herb garden. Image: Bo Wong

Conjuring up space has been at the core of this project, from the basement-style garaging to the use of the central courtyard to create a pavilion-like addition.

The original cottage now consists of two bedrooms, with a central hallway leading onto a spacious reception and living area. Here, the large kitchen and dining spaces wrap around the courtyard, offering easy access to outdoor spaces via large sliding doors.

Moments of solitude and privacy have been secreted throughout the floorplan, with clever placement of built-in window seats and the crow’s nest lookout on the roof, ideal for morning coffee and sunset drinks.

The house has three bedrooms, including a spacious master suite with walk-in robe and ensuite overlooking the back garden. Adjustable blades on the bedroom windows allow for the control of light, as well as privacy. Although the house was designed pre COVID, it offers the sensibility so many sought through that time — sanctuary, comfort and retreat.

Adjustable blades allow the owners to control light on the upper floor. Image: Bo Wong

“When the clients came to us, they wanted a house that was flexible enough to cater for the unknown and changes in the family into the future,” Stejskal says. “We gave the owners a series of spaces and a certain variety or moods, regardless of the occasion. We wanted it to be a space that would support that.”

Mood has also been manipulated through the choice of materials. Stejskal has used common materials such as timber and brick, but in unexpected ways to create spaces that are at once sumptuous but also in keeping with the origins of the existing building.

Externally, the brickwork has been finished in beaded pointing, a style of bricklaying that has a softening effect on the varied colours of bricks. For the flooring, crazy paving in the courtyard contrasts with the controlled lines of tiles laid in a stack bond pattern. Close attention has also been paid to the use of veneer on select joinery in the house, championing the beauty of Australian timbers with a lustrous finish. 

“The joinery is finished in spotted gum veneer that has been rotary cut,” says Stejskal. “It is peeled off the log like you peel an apple to give you this different grain.”

Rotary cut timber reveals the beauty of the natural grain in the kitchen joinery. Image: Bo Wong

Even the laundry has been carefully considered.

“The laundry is like a zen space with bare stone,” he says. “We wanted these different moods and the landscape of rooms. We wanted to create a rich tapestry in this house.”

The owners now each experience the house differently, highlighting separate aspects of the building as their favourite parts. It’s quite an achievement when the site is not enormous. Maybe it’s not size that matters so much after all.

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