SINGO RETURNS WITH LUXURY WATERFRONT APARTMENTS IN GOSFORD
Advertising legend John Singleton unveils an exclusive 16-residence Caroline Bay development, marking his latest high-end property play on the Central Coast.
2 min
Legendary adman John ‘Singo’ Singleton has unveiled the newest project under his John Singleton Group development company.
The new project, 49Caroline, named after its location at 49 Caroline Street, will deliver just 16 luxury apartments to the Caroline Bay foreshore.
It is being developed in partnership with privately owned financier Alceon, which has a strong track record in the area, having recently completed Rumbalara Residences, a gated community comprising four buildings and 188 apartments. The project recently set a Gosford record with the sale of a penthouse for $7 million.
The 16 apartments at 49Caroline will comprise a mix of three- and four-bedroom residences, priced from $2,295,000.
The absolute waterfront development on Caroline Bay has been designed by Mosman-based architect Enrique Blanco de Cordova of deBlanco Studio.
Gittoes agents Stephen Gittoes and Richard Faulkner are marketing the project as a “once-in-a-lifetime offering on the Central Coast”.
They say each residence is “shaped by an architectural philosophy that balances timeless elegance with contemporary coastal living.
“Expansive interiors, generous outdoor terraces and floor-to-ceiling glazing invite the water into every moment. From the private jetty to the pool glistening over the bay, life here unfolds with effortless beauty and ease,” Gittoes says.
Resident amenities include a waterfront spa, pool and cabana, landscaped gardens, indoor-outdoor entertaining spaces, and a firepit alcove designed for golden-hour gatherings.
Construction firm JDC Property has been appointed to build the project.
The John Singleton Group website also references a previous project in Gosford, Bonython Tower, completed in 2019. The 56-apartment building is located on Mann Street in central Gosford.
The group has another project in the pipeline. The Lodge will be a luxury “10-star” lodge and restaurant complex at Mount White on the NSW Central Coast, adjacent to his successful Saddles restaurant and his former Strawberry Hills stud, which he sold in 2023 to John Magnier’s Coolmore Stud for more than $30 million.
The Lodge will feature a 17- to 20-room boutique hotel, designed as a series of pavilions offering premium accommodation.
Singleton is one of Australia’s most well-known advertising entrepreneurs.
e co-founded SPASM in the late 1960s. In the mid-1980s, after selling SPASM, he started John Singleton Advertising, which went on to create the campaign for Bob Hawke’s successful 1987 federal election.
He has long had an affinity with property, both commercial and residential
He owned his Paddington office compound, The Bonython (unrelated to his Gosford tower project), for five decades before selling the former art gallery space in 2024 for $33 million to Annie Cannon-Brookes, the former wife of Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.
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New research shows a widening divide across Australia and New Zealand’s property markets, with investors increasingly forced to look beyond traditional strongholds to find real returns.
3 min
By any traditional measure, Australia’s property market should be moving in sync. Instead, it is fragmenting.
New research from MaxCap, led by Head of Research Bruce Wan, paints a picture of a market no longer defined by national trends, but by sharp regional divergence, where performance gaps between cities are widening, and the smartest capital is moving accordingly.
At the top end of the ladder, Perth and southeast Queensland are surging ahead. At the other, Melbourne and Auckland are only just beginning to recover from recent downturns. And sitting squarely in the middle is Sydney, steady but constrained.
The takeaway is clear: the era of relying on headline markets is over.
The rise of the unexpected leaders
Brisbane and the broader southeast Queensland region have emerged as standout performers, driven by population growth, infrastructure investment and a sustained undersupply of housing.
According to the report, housing values in the region have continued to accelerate, supported by long-term tailwinds including the 2032 Olympic Games and a decade of relatively subdued price growth prior.
Perth is telling a similar story, albeit for different reasons. Once heavily tied to commodity cycles, the Western Australian capital is now benefiting from a broader base of economic drivers, including defence spending and sustained resource sector strength.
The result is a housing market that remains one of the strongest in the country, even as price growth begins to ease from its peak.
Sydney holds, but doesn’t lead
For Sydney, the story is more nuanced.
While prices continue to climb and the city remains Australia’s most expensive market, affordability constraints are clearly limiting its pace. Residential growth, while positive, lags behind smaller capitals, and commercial sectors are being held back by softer demand in key industries.
There are, however, signs of momentum building. New infrastructure, including the western Sydney Airport and expanded rail networks, is expected to unlock development opportunities and support future growth, particularly in emerging precincts.
Still, the report positions Sydney firmly in the “middle of the pack”, no longer the automatic frontrunner for investors.
Melbourne’s slow reset
Melbourne, once a consistent performer, has spent recent years recalibrating.
Extended lockdowns, combined with new state property taxes, have weighed heavily on investor sentiment and pricing, particularly across the commercial office sector. Residential values have also underperformed, though for different structural reasons.
Now, there are early signs of recovery.
Improved affordability, population growth and a stabilising economic backdrop are beginning to draw buyers back into the market, with both residential and commercial sectors showing tentative signs of improvement.
Auckland’s turning point
Across the Tasman, Auckland has faced its own challenges, particularly from an outflow of younger workers to Australia, which has dampened demand and stalled price growth.
But here too, the tide appears to be shifting.
A return to positive migration, lower interest rates and policy changes — including the easing of foreign buyer restrictions — are expected to support a gradual recovery, alongside renewed interest from offshore capital.
A market that rewards precision
If there is one unifying theme, it is this: broad-brush strategies no longer work.
MaxCap’s research highlights that the most compelling opportunities are increasingly found outside the traditional powerhouses of Sydney and Melbourne, requiring investors to take a more targeted, locally informed approach.
“Given these persistent performance gaps, there is plentiful scope for alpha returns, just by picking the right locations and market segments,” the report notes.
In other words, success in this market is no longer about being in property — it is about being in the right property, in the right place, at the right time.
And increasingly, that place may not be where you expect.
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