The historic treasure with room for everyone

As the saying goes, they don’t make them like this anymore.

But while this Federation-era home on Sydney’s north shore is a step back in time, it has everything a family could wish for in a contemporary home.

Located at 39 Marian Street, Killara, ‘Goorawin’ is a two-storey, eight-bedroom, six-bathroom home designed by early 20th century firm, Robertson and Marks, who were responsible for some of Sydney’s best known homes.

Beautifully crafted from brick and slate, with exterior architectural detail in sandstone, the house is just as stunning inside, with a grand cedar staircase, patterned ceilings and Art Nouveau leadlight windows.

Among the multiple formal and informal living areas placed around the house, there’s a dedicated ‘coffee room’ as well as a private home office. Bedrooms are across both floors, providing flexibility for guests, adult children or in-laws.

Key areas of the home have been updated, including the Calacutta marble kitchen and bathrooms.

Positioned on 2,036sqm of landscaped gardens, the house enjoys a northerly aspect, allowing abundant natural light into the interiors.

Address: 39 Marion Street, Killara

Price Guide: $8.5m-$9m

Agent: The Agency, Glenn Curran 0418 437 896.

The Reserve Bank had little choice but to raise interest rates again this week.

Inflation was already proving stubborn before the latest Middle East instability added further pressure to energy prices and supply chains.

Housing inflation alone has averaged six per cent over the past year, remaining one of the single biggest contributors to CPI.

But while the focus remains on rates, the deeper problem is structural and far more dangerous.

Australia is not building enough homes, and the conditions required to fix that are deteriorating simultaneously.

Construction costs remain elevated. Builders are increasingly unwilling to absorb contract risk. Labour shortages persist.

Capital is becoming more expensive. And as borrowing capacity weakens and sentiment softens, fewer projects are becoming financially viable.

The result is a self-reinforcing cycle.

The RBA raises rates to fight inflation. Higher rates reduce development feasibility. Fewer projects start. Housing supply tightens further. Rents rise. Inflation persists. The RBA raises rates again.

The only long-term solution is supply, yet Australia remains nowhere near the National Housing Accord target of 240,000 new dwellings a year.

Completion continues to lag approvals, meaning many projects approved on paper are simply never making it out of the ground.

That gap matters enormously because housing is not just another sector of the economy.

Around two-thirds of Australian household wealth is tied to property, while the sector underpins millions of jobs and related industries. Weakness here quickly spreads beyond real estate.

We are already seeing signs of stress. Auction clearance rates in Sydney and Melbourne have softened, borrowing capacity has declined, and parts of the market are experiencing price corrections as confidence weakens.

At the same time, policymakers continue to debate tax measures such as changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts, despite fears that such reforms could drive private capital out of the rental market at precisely the moment when supply is most constrained.

This is the paradox at the centre of Australia’s housing crisis.

Demand for property remains extraordinarily high, yet the economic conditions required to actually build new housing are worsening.

The Reserve Bank cannot solve that problem alone.

Monetary policy cannot accelerate planning approvals, reduce construction costs or create more tradies. It can only raise the cost of money until something eventually breaks.

And increasingly, that “something” looks like the development pipeline itself.

Paul Miron is the Co-Founder & Fund Manager of Msquared Capital.

The historic treasure with room for everyone

In the heart of the city, this is the kind of house that could easily handle weekend parties

Rising rates, construction inflation and shrinking investor confidence are pushing Australia deeper into a dangerous housing spiral that monetary policy alone cannot fix.