Shaping Australia’s Next Generation of Luxury Developments

Sydney’s ultra-luxury property market continues to move to its own rhythm.

Scarcity, lifestyle appeal and a new generation of high-net-worth buyers are reshaping how prestige projects are designed, marketed and sold.

We asked Abadeen’s Executive Chairman and Founder Justin Brown to unpack what’s driving demand, where he sees opportunity and how the definition of luxury living is changing.

Q: Sydney’s ultra-luxury property market has remained remarkably resilient. Why?

Supply is structurally tight, and the best sites are almost impossible to replicate. Planning is slow, construction costs are high, and true blue-chip land rarely changes hands. That keeps premium stock scarce.

Much of the demand at this level is from owner-occupiers, and their numbers are increasing exponentially. With long horizons, they help stabilise values through cycles.

As a developer, we manage release strategies carefully. Private placements and staged launches absorb volatility and protect pricing integrity. Sydney’s quality of life, stability, and the international desire to live here do the rest.

Q: Off-market transactions are a hallmark of prestige property sales. What advantages do they offer buyers and sellers?

Both channels have a role. On market provides full exposure, public benchmarking and visible competitive tension. It’s useful when we want to set a new reference price or showcase a precinct at scale.

Off-market delivers privacy, precision and control. There is a smaller pool of qualified buyers who set the tempo and negotiate the terms that actually matter.

It protects residents’ privacy, reduces disruption on site, and keeps the brand experience consistent. Buyers gain early access to irreplaceable products and the ability to tailor outcomes quietly.

For true trophy assets and pre-release allocations, I prefer off-market. We are able to customise and personalise the outcome.

Q: Luxury buyers expect more than location. What must-have features and amenities drive demand?

Views and villages is simplistic but precise. Long, protected outlooks, correct orientation, and a connected neighbourhood that offers vibrancy seven days a week.

Then privacy and a sense of arrival. Generous indoor–outdoor living, a primary kitchen plus a catering space for real entertaining, serious wellness facilities, secure multi-car garaging with EV infrastructure, and building services that feel five-star without fuss.

Technology should disappear into the experience and be reliable. Acoustic and thermal performance matter as much as marble. Designing homes is our craft. We obsess over those details because they determine how a home actually lives and breathes.

Q: Beyond Sydney, are there emerging luxury markets in Australia that high-net-worth investors should watch?

We have further expanded in Melbourne, Perth and Queensland. That is where we see sustained depth for the premium owner-occupier product in the right areas, targeting similar demographics to the Sydney market.

Think Melbourne’s inner bayside and east, Perth’s western suburbs and river precincts, and select Brisbane and Gold Coast locations where scarcity is real and community amenity is maturing.

Q: What has been your most remarkable sale, and what made it unique?

I have been fortunate over the last 30 years to be involved in Australia’s premium apartment revival from Bennelong, Hyde Park precinct and Barangaroo in Sydney, to HMAS in Melbourne, and the waterfront precincts of South-East Queensland and Perth, amounting to more than $200 million in property sales. We have also transacted a high proportion of development opportunities, up to $750 million.

Q: What is one piece of advice you always give high-net-worth buyers?

Choose the developer first. At this level, counterpart risk matters as much as postcode. Buy in the best village with the best views you can, but make your first filter the team delivering it: if you trust the people and the product, move early and buy with confidence.

This interview appeared in the Spring issue of Kanebridge Quarterly magazine. You can buy your copy here.

Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by first-home buyer incentives or tax changes alone, with leading property figures warning governments must tackle supply constraints if affordability is to improve.

Speaking at the Kanebridge Quarterly Property Leadership Summit in Sydney last week, expert project marketing specialist Sam Elbanna, property investor and fund manager Paul Miron and property consultant Karla McNeice said that a lack of housing supply remained the central issue facing the market.

Elbanna, Director of CPM Realty with more than 30 years’ experience in project sales, argued that successive governments had focused too heavily on stimulating demand rather than addressing the barriers preventing new housing from being delivered.

“The misconception is that politicians think the way to solve the housing crisis is to drive demand,” he said.

“The reality is that’s not the way. This is a supply-side problem, and it needs to be solved on the supply side.”

Drawing on his experience in project sales, Elbanna said policies designed to help first-home buyers often had unintended consequences, pointing to previous grants that ultimately flowed through to higher property prices.

Instead, he said developers were facing increasing red tape, approval delays and rising costs, which were discouraging new housing supply.

“In the absence of stock, demand exceeds supply,” he said.

Miron, a Co-Founder and Fund Manager of Msquared Capital, said the housing debate had become overly focused on tax policy while overlooking broader structural issues.

He argued that affordability challenges stemmed from a combination of factors, including planning constraints, supply shortages, migration levels and interest rates.

“No-one can be 100 per cent certain on the real reason for property prices is going up,” he said.

“The reason why property prices are higher is a combination of interest rates, lack of supply, migration, vacancy rates and maybe taxes play a role.”

Miron was critical of recent federal housing policy changes, warning they could reduce the number of new homes being built and further constrain supply that was even highlighted in the budget.

He also highlighted the importance of the property sector to the broader economy, noting that residential real estate and related industries employed more than one million Australians.

McNeice, who advises developers on sales strategy and market intelligence, said understanding buyers had become increasingly important as affordability pressures intensified.

While affordability remained a major consideration, she said today’s buyers were focused on value rather than simply price.

“People are looking for value for money,” she said.

She said buyers were increasingly evaluating factors such as transport connections, walkability, nearby amenities and flexible living spaces that could accommodate changing family needs.

“What infrastructure is going on? Can I walk to the shops? Can I meet people at the local cafe?” she said.

The panel also discussed the mounting pressures facing developers, with Elbanna arguing that many projects become financially unviable from the moment a site is purchased.

“The viability of a development happens at the moment the site is bought,” he said.

He said rising construction costs, higher interest rates and overly optimistic feasibility assumptions had left some developers exposed as market conditions changed.

While acknowledging the growing number of smaller and first-time developers entering the market, Elbanna said property development required expertise across finance, construction, marketing and legal disciplines.

“It is actually a business that requires a level of expertise,” he said.

Looking ahead, the panel agreed opportunities remained in the market despite current challenges.

Miron said property should continue to be viewed as a long-term investment and cautioned against trying to time short-term market movements.

McNeice said success would increasingly depend on identifying projects that genuinely met changing buyer expectations.

Elbanna said affordable housing remained achievable, but developers needed to deliver more than just homes.

“We can provide affordable housing in this country,” he said.

“But we’ve got to wrap that affordable housing with the things that people want.”

As Australia’s housing affordability debate intensifies, the panellists agreed on one point: without a meaningful increase in housing supply, demand-side measures alone are unlikely to solve the nation’s property challenges.

Shaping Australia’s Next Generation of Luxury Developments

Abadeen Executive Chairman & Founder Justin Brown shares his insights on the resilience of Sydney’s ultra-luxury property market and the future of premium living.

Australia’s housing affordability crisis is being fuelled by chronic undersupply, planning delays and rising development costs, as politicians continue to focus on the wrong solutions.