NOOSA IGNITES WITH RECORD TROPHY HOMES

It wasn’t too long ago that Noosa was seen as a relaxed holiday town, more famous for its surf breaks and weekenders than record-breaking prestige property.

But much like much of Queensland, COVID lit a torch under the market, and in Noosa it was the prestige sector that surged the hardest.

Records tumbled, including one-bedroom apartments on Hastings Street, the suburb’s only true beachfront strip, changing hands for nearly $6 million. That’s a price point not seen anywhere else in Australia, not even Bondi Beach.

While some regional markets have since cooled as workers trudged back to the office, Australia’s wealthy have continued to pour into Noosa.

Their growing fortunes, from corporate payouts to generational wealth, have fuelled the demand. Think former Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, who just received a $50 million payout from her former employer.

Just before Christmas last year she spent $17 million on a 1970s Noosa home, which she plans to knockdown and replace with a three-level luxury residence by Shaun Lockyer Architects.

The regional price record was set in 2021 when Peter Tighe, non-executive chairman of AuKing Mining and part-owner of champion mare Winx, paid $34 million for Webb House in Sunshine Beach.

Initially, speculation swirled that billionaire Gina Rinehart was the mystery buyer. Sunshine Beach still holds the crown for Noosa’s priciest sale, but the bulk of big-ticket transactions are now spread between absolute beachfront in Noosa Heads and the suburb’s sought-after waterways.

So far in 2025, there have been 42 sales above $5 million across the region. That’s broadly in line with the last three years, with the exception of 2021, when more than 90 properties over $5 million changed hands between January and September alone.

Higher interest rates aren’t applicable to this cohort of buyers.

This year Mark Fraser, the Queensland architect who founded beach shade giant CoolCabanas, paid $18 million on an empty X sqm block of land with approved plans for a new luxury home.

Brendan Pickering, the managing director of Pickerings Auto Group, spent $16.5 million to add to his collection of Noosa waterfront trophy homes, while the lesser known, Melbourne-based millionaires Robert and Abigail Polites, emerged as buyers of a $17.6 million home on Witta Circle, widely regarded as Noosa’s premier riverfront street.

The prestige market has been further energised with the listing of one of Noosa’s most striking waterfront homes, and it could set a new benchmark.

Reed & Co. agents Adrian Reed and Donna Taylor have just launched Casa Luca to market, a newly built Wyuna Drive home that recently won the 2025 Master Builders Regional Award.

Translating to “House of Light,” the home has been crafted by renowned designer Paul Clout, whose name is synonymous with Noosa’s most celebrated residences. Interiors are by Hong Henwood, incorporating Italian marble, Portuguese stone, Egyptian limestone, and hand-blown Soktas glass pendants.

Every detail has been carefully curated, and all the custom furnishings are included in the sale.

The residence offers a 20-metre river frontage with expansive glass panes framing uninterrupted water views. Inside, curved walls and soaring ceilings deliver dramatic impact, while a marble-clad galley kitchen with a 3.5-metre island bench forms the heart of the home.

It features a Gaggenau cooktop and ovens, dual integrated Fisher & Paykel fridges, and Miele dishwashers, a space designed to entertain as much as cook.

Spread across more than 500 sqm of internal living, the four king-sized bedrooms include a master retreat with a private riverfront terrace, walk-in robe, and ensuite clad in limestone and Italian marble.

Multiple lounge areas are anchored by Jetmaster and gas fireplaces, with terraces flowing to the pool, spa, and private jetty. A custom wine cellar and bar sit alongside the dining space, while an alfresco pavilion with an automated roof, BeefEater barbecue, plumbed gas fire pit, floating daybed, and magnesium pool complete the resort-style setting.

Competing for best trophy home listing this summer is another Paul Clout special, this one on Gympie Terrace in Noosaville. The home, dubbed One W, is listed with Century 21 Conolly Hay Group Noosa Heads agent Rachel Sellman, who is entertaining offers around the $20 million mark.

The highlight of the four-bedroom, three-level home is the rooftop terrace, channeling a chic Mediterranean beach club with a private heated pool and spa, floating daybeds, custom dining and lounging areas with a gas fireplace, a built-in barbecue, a bar with beer taps, and an adjustable pergola. Sharing this level is a fitness studio with a full gym, infrared sauna, and a steam shower.

A landmark Watsons Bay residence formerly owned by businessman Mark Bouris has returned to the market, bringing one of the harbourside village’s most distinctive homes back into play.

The five-bedroom property at 23 Robertson Place occupies 654 square metres opposite Robertson Park, within footsteps of Watsons Bay Beach, the ferry wharf and the celebrated restaurants lining the foreshore.

Its position places the home at the centre of one of Sydney’s most recognisable harbour villages, yet its substantial proportions, private outdoor areas and garaging give it a degree of separation rarely found so close to the waterfront.

The residence was previously owned by Bouris, the founder of Wizard Home Loans and chairman of Yellow Brick Road. Property records show it last changed hands in November 2013 for $7 million, having sold for $890,000 in 1995.

That 2013 transaction was handled by prestige agent Bill Malouf through Highland Double Bay. Bouris was the vendor when the home last sold.

Architect Malcolm Sholl designed the contemporary residence around a fluid connection between its interiors and outdoor entertaining areas. Extensive glazing draws natural light into the principal rooms, while district views take in the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Travertine flooring extends through the principal living areas and out towards the terraces, reinforcing the relationship between the home and its coastal setting.

At the centre of the residence is a marble kitchen equipped with Gaggenau gas appliances and an integrated Miele coffee machine. It connects to expansive open-plan living and dining areas designed for both family life and large-scale entertaining.

Five double bedrooms are accompanied by three bathrooms and a guest powder room. Informal living spaces include a home cinema.

Outside, there’s a 23-metre lap pool and an alfresco entertainer’s terrace. Internal access from the garage and accommodation for four cars are especially valuable in the tightly held village location.

The address also carries an unusual fragment of local architectural history. Woollahra planning material identifies portions of an early Victorian cottage dating from about 1839 within the contemporary three-storey residence, placing the property within the wider Watsons Bay heritage conservation area.

The home made headlines for another reason in January 2025, when a Ferrari left the road and struck the property. Two occupants of the vehicle were taken to hospital following the incident.

The Agency’s Ben Collier has a $20 million guide.

Watsons Bay remains one of Sydney’s smallest and most tightly held prestige markets. There have only been two house sales in the suburb so far in 2026. The suburb record was set late last year when yachtie Linda Goddard paid $35.5 million for a Pacific Street waterfront.

NOOSA IGNITES WITH RECORD TROPHY HOMES

Once a sleepy surf town, Noosa has become Australia’s prestige property hotspot, where multi-million dollar knockdowns, architectural showpieces and record-setting sales are the new normal.