The Australian cities where luxury home values have more than doubled
A new property report reveals an ‘unprecedented surge’ in luxury home values as demand continues to outstrip supply
3 min
Australia’s luxury home market is experiencing an “unprecedented surge in prices” due to a limited supply of large homes close to beaches, bays and rivers and strong demand from Australia’s growing high-net-worth population, according to Ray White senior data analyst Atom Go Tian.
The inaugural Ray White Luxury Report reveals luxury homes have risen in value at a much faster rate than median-priced properties across the capital cities over the 10 years from 2014 to 2023. Luxury house prices rose by 84 percent over the decade compared to 70 percent for median-priced houses. Luxury apartment prices soared 58 percent while median apartment prices rose 31 percent.
However, there was a change last year when median prices grew faster than luxury prices for the first time in the decade. CoreLogic analysis shows higher interest rates, which limited people’s borrowing capacity, and rising prices appeared to turbocharge buyer demand in more affordable markets across Australia, with Perth experiencing the most growth among the capital cities in 2023.
Mr Go Tian said some key trends in Australia’s luxury market over the past decade included Brisbane booking the fastest rise in prestige transactions among the major cities, as well as the emergence of the Gold Coast as a “rapidly growing” luxury apartment market. Sydney is the largest prestige market, accounting for 64 percent of national luxury house sales and 51 percent of luxury unit sales.
Interestingly, Australia’s second-smallest capital city – Hobart – recorded the highest luxury house price growth over the decade at 122 percent and the highest luxury apartment price growth at 101 percent.
Here is a summary of the report’s findings on the price growth of Australia’s luxury homes.
Sydney
The luxury house price median is $3.9 million, up 93 percent over the decade, while the median house price is $1.4 million, up 72 percent. In 2023, the suburbs that recorded the most luxury house sales above $5 million were Mosman, Vaucluse and Bellevue Hill. The luxury apartment price median sits at $2.1 million, up 72 percent, while the median apartment price is $794,000, up 25 percent. The suburbs with the most luxury apartment sales above $3 million were Mosman, Darling Point and Pyrmont.
Melbourne
The luxury house price median is $2.5 million, up 71 percent over the decade, while the median house price is $933,000, also up 71 percent. In 2023, the suburbs that had the most luxury house sales above $5 million were Toorak, Brighton and Kew. The luxury apartment price median is $1.3 million, up 51 percent, while the median apartment price is $603,000, up 27 percent. The suburbs with the most luxury apartment sales above $3 million were Toorak, Melbourne CBD and Brighton.
Brisbane
The luxury house price median is $1.8 million, up 103 percent over the decade, while the median house price is $838,000, up 82 percent. In 2023, the suburbs that recorded the most luxury house sales above $5 million were Hamilton, Park Ridge and New Farm. The luxury apartment price median is $1.1 million, up 51 percent, while the median apartment price is $554,000, up 35 percent. The suburbs with the most luxury apartment sales above $3 million were New Farm, Newstead and Brisbane City.
Perth
The luxury house price median is $1.7 million, up 49 percent over the decade, while the median house price is $676,000, up 25 percent. In 2023, the suburbs that had the most luxury house sales above $5 million were Cottesloe, Dalkeith and Mosman Park. The luxury apartment price median sits at just over $1 million, up 15 percent, while the median apartment price is $453,000, up 0.7 percent. The suburbs with the most luxury apartment sales above $3 million were South Perth, North Fremantle and West Perth.
Adelaide
The luxury house price median is $1.6 million, 2.2 times higher than in 2014, while the median house price is over $700,000, up 78 percent. In 2023, the suburbs that had the most luxury house sales above $5 million were North Adelaide, St Peters and Medindie. The luxury apartment price median is $994,000, up 52 percent, while the median apartment price is just under $500,000, up 44 percent. The suburbs with the most luxury apartment sales above $3 million were Dulwich, Adelaide CBD and Glenelg.
Hobart
The luxury house price median is $1.5 million, up 122 percent over the decade, while the median house price is $742,000, up 112 percent. In 2023, the suburbs that recorded the most luxury house sales above $5 million were Sandy Bay, Old Beach and North Hobart. The luxury apartment price median sits at $1.04 million, up 100 percent, while the median apartment price is $564,000, up 102 percent. The suburbs with the most luxury apartment sales above $3 million were Sandy Bay, Battery Point and Hobart.
Darwin
The luxury house price median is just over $1 million, up 18 percent over the decade, while the median house price is just over $600,000, up 5 percent. In 2023, the suburbs that recorded the most luxury house sales above $5 million were Larrakeyah, Darwin City and Palmerton City. The luxury apartment price median is $724,000, down 0.6 percent, while the median apartment price is $388,000, down 12 percent. The suburbs that had the most luxury apartment sales above $3 million were Fannie Bay, Darwin City and Larrakeyah.
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It was a total accident, and their worst nightmare
4 min
Have you ever accidentally damaged a client’s home?
Debby Belt, senior associate, Hammond Residential Real Estate, Chestnut Hill, Mass.
I was representing the seller of a four-bedroom Cape Cod-style home in Newton, Mass., just west of Boston. It was May 2016 and the house was listed for $929,000. It had a beautiful kitchen, with wood cabinets, granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances.
The house went under contract, and it was scheduled for a home inspection. I wanted the house to look pristine for the inspector and buyers, but the kitchen counters were cluttered, so I frantically threw things into drawers, and I put some glassware, baking tins and plates into the oven. When the inspector walked into the kitchen, he turned on the oven to test it without looking inside first. I was in another room at the time, but I smelled something burning, and then heard explosions as the glass shattered.
When I ran into the kitchen, I saw smoke and a small fire in the oven. There was broken glass all over the place, and the kitchen was smoky. Since it was a gas oven, it could have been much worse. The oven was damaged, and the seller wasn’t happy, so I gave her a $500 discount on the commission to offset any damage or credits she would have to give to the buyers. The buyers weren’t too upset, fortunately, because they were probably planning to update the appliances. The home ended up selling for $920,000 with the oven not functioning perfectly. Now, when I meet the inspector, we both still laugh about it.
Jeffrey Kahn, broker, Broker Associates Realty, The Villages, Fla.
In 1995, early in my real-estate career, I was representing the seller of a condominium in a luxury high-rise building on the ocean in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, just north of Fort Lauderdale. My seller had the mistaken impression that the dining room chandelier was excluded from the sale, so she had it taken down just before closing and replaced it with a less-expensive fixture.
When we did the walk-through the day before closing, the buyer noticed that the original chandelier, which was about 3 feet wide and custom-made from oyster shells and glass on a wrought-iron frame, was missing and, since the contract said that the unit was being sold furnished with everything included in the sale we needed to rectify the situation. The buyer was refusing to close because she loved the chandelier, and my commission—about $30,000, which I was going to split with the other agent—was in jeopardy. The original chandelier was packed in a box on the dining room table, and to make the deal happen, I told the seller I would replace her chandelier with a comparable one if we would rehang the original.
It wasn’t a difficult chandelier, and I’ve done a lot of electrical work in my own homes, so I took down the one hanging from the ceiling. As I started to remove the oyster-glass chandelier from the box, a hairless Sphynx cat jumped on the glass dining room table and rubbed against me. I had never seen a cat in the apartment during the entire listing process, so it scared the heck out of me. I dropped the chandelier, which broke, and I ended up having to pay $8,000 for two new chandeliers and electrician fees. Thankfully, the unit sold for $978,000 and my commission was sufficient to cover the costs. I was just happy the glass dining-room table didn’t break because then my whole commission would have been gone.
Joshua Garner, real-estate agent, The Agency, New York City
In October 2022, I was representing the owner of a Classic Seven co-op on the Upper East Side that was listed for $3.1 million. It had three bedrooms and 2,575 square feet of classic prewar details, with 13 windows and high ceilings. It also had the most particular seller ever. She trusted no one but myself to open up and show the apartment, and it took no less than 30 minutes to prepare and close up each time. There was a written checklist I had to follow, in a specific order, that included the proper angle at which to pull the string for the blinds, how to pick up and strategically fold, stack and put away the series of white sheets she had laid out as runners to protect the bedroom carpets and wearing shoe covers and gloves. She would watch everything from Switzerland via her security cameras and would call me to correct the smallest details.
Prospective buyers were told not to touch anything and to stay on designated walking areas, which were placed a distance from the Ming vases. If they wanted to see the interior of a cupboard or closet, I would refer to myself as Vanna White and would respond to what they instructed. I always warned them ahead of time that she was probably watching and that anything they said or did would be recorded. Buyers would enter with their guard up, which made it difficult. One day, after a showing, I couldn’t get one of the blinds to lower properly. I panicked, but I notified her immediately, and she had a maintenance worker inspect it. The cord had come off the internal spool, and even though it was a quick fix, the seller was livid and ready to withdraw the exclusive.
The only thing that saved the listing was offering to pay $300 to fully replace the mechanism to restore it to new condition. Although there were incidents that upset her during other showings, thankfully, nothing else was ever broken. This co-op, which ended up closing for $2.95 million in October 2023, was the most high-stakes deal I ever worked on.
—Edited from interviews by Robyn A. Friedman
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