7 Most Expensive Australian Residential Properties
Prestige property continues to reach new heights.
3 min
The ascendance of prime residential property in Australia is reaching new heights, with new definitions of the term ‘trophy home’ being formed with every record-breaking sale. As new forms of luxury real estate and old-world mansions continue to draw intrigue from the international and local buyers alike, here we’ve compiled the most expensive residential sales in Australian history.
One Sydney Harbour, Sydney, $140 Million
A deal alleged to be worth more than $140 million is the country’s most expensive residence. The fee is said to have bought the top three floors of the in-construction Tower 1 development of One Sydney Harbour at Barangaroo South. The purchase of both the two-storey penthouse and the sub-penthouse below of the Renzo Piano-designed building was said to be by a local who is expected to make the penthouse their home when completed in late 2023.
Fairwater, Point Piper, $100 million
In 2018, Australian tech-billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie bought what was at the time Australia’s most expensive house, Fairwater. The historic purchase ended more than a century of Fairfax family ownership. With the sale of the 1.12-hectare estate (the largest privately held property on Sydney Harbour), exchanging in just over two weeks for $100 million. The home was last traded in1901 for £5350 by Sir John Fairfax.
Edgewater, Point Piper $95 million
In 2020, the Wolseley Road property in Sydney’s blue-ribbon locale of Point Piper sold for $95 million, becoming the second most expensive house sale on record. The property, known as ‘Edgewater’ has a rare 40-metre harbour frontage, directly in front of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House.
Elaine, Point Piper, $71 million
Joining this list is fellow Atlassian co-founder and billionaire Scott Farquhar, with yet another Fairfax family estate, Elaine. The historic property, which boasts 6986sqm in Sydney’s most expensive enclave features seven bedrooms and five bathrooms on Seven Shillings Beach. Previously the home had been owned by the Fairfax family since 1891.
La Mer, Vaucluse, $70 million
James Packer’s off-market exchange for the vast, six-storey monolith in 2015 set an Australian house price record at the time. Set across 3345sqm, with views of Sydney Harbour, La Mer was sold to Dr Chau Chak Wing — owner of Chinese property development company Kingold Group — and features a glassed -in garden area, home gym, workout room, cinema with space or 20 people and a garage for 20 cars.
Phoenix Acres, Vaucluse, $65.25 million
The grand proportions of Phoenix Acres, Vaucluse is typified by its 81-metre-wide water frontage attached to a 3731sqm parcel with 6-bedroom, 6-bathrooms and a triple garage. Other luxurious amenities include the lavish master suite, tennis court, resort-style pools and grand dining room with harbour view terraces. The property was sold in 2017 to hotel mogul Dr Jerry Schwartz.
Ganeden, Vaucluse, $62 million
Rounding out the list is corporate lawyer John Landerer’s Vaucluse mansion, Ganedan, selling for more than $62 million in 2022. The exact figure on the sale will be left to settlement, with the home finally finding a new owner after three years on the market. The property, which is built on a consolidated site from three houses between Wentworth Road and Vaucluse Road also the second most expensive non-waterfront sale, following La Mer, further up this list.
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In signs that confidence is returning to the Australian property market, the combined capitals recorded their highest preliminary clearance rates since April last year, CoreLogic reports.
More than 2,290 homes went to market across capital cities last weekend with early data revealing a 71 percent clearance rate. This compares with a revised clearance rate of 64.2 percent last week. It marks the second busiest auction week to date this year.
Melbourne led the way, with 1,122 homes taken to auction. Of the 916 results collected so far, 73.5 percent were successful. It was a similar story in Sydney, with 791 homes to go under the hammer. Preliminary results indicate a clearance rate of 71.5 percent.
The smaller capitals including Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra all experienced higher clearance rates week on week, with Adelaide out in front at 78.6 percent. It was a less spectacular result in Canberra, with a 59 percent clearance rate and in Brisbane at 56 percent.
In Perth, just three of the 13 auctions tallied so far were successful.
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