The neighbourhoods where being cool pays off

Anyone who thinks real estate is just a numbers game didn’t get the memo. There’s one serious X-factor when it comes to property values that’s less about stats and more about status. A cool neighbourhood is worth its weight in gold.

Time Out’s annual Coolest Neighbourhoods in the World list quite literally puts a collection of hip locations on the map each year. Coolness is judged on an area’s eateries, watering holes, public green spaces, its diversity and sense of community — a combination of factors that feed buyer demand.

Melbourne suburbs such as Brunswick East and Fitzroy have graced these lists in recent years, with Enmore and Marrickville representing for Sydney. Wherever the location, however, cool neighbourhoods all have similar ingredients.

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What makes a neighbourhood cool

The coolest suburbs are usually the most inclusive places where anyone can freely eat, drink and socialise without the sense of being an “outsider”.

Social demographer Mark McCrindle of McCrindle Research said diversity is a catalyst to cool.

“Australia likes a village atmosphere with a bit of a buzz,” McCrindle says. “That doesn’t come from a single age group, social or a monocultural group of residents. When there’s vibrancy and diversity of young people and couples, but also young families and retirees, it makes a neighbourhood more dynamic.

“It also needs to have a gathering place for people to get out and about. Some developments end up becoming “dormitory suburbs”.”

Even good architecture and design are not always enough to create the right ambience, he says.

“Without those essential gathering points people are simply just commuting in and out.”

While “walkable” suburbs have long been in demand, “talkable” suburbs are the new wave.

“It comes down to whether people can share it,” McCrindle says. “Great little food outlets, pubs or other hot spots can generate their own momentum accelerated by social media.

“But like anything on social media, trends can spike and then fade quickly. For an area to maintain its cool factor there needs to be a combination of things keeping locals committed so they’ll maintain the buzz.”

Buyer’s agent Michelle May says it can be tricky for a suburb to maintain its ‘cool’ appeal.

Although coolness adds value, affordability still needs to play its part. Sydney-based buyer’s agent Michelle May said it’s a delicate balance between cool and costly.

“The death of a cool suburb is when it becomes too affluent.

“One sign of that homogenisation is when the big brands move in and push out those smaller local businesses who can’t afford to pay the high rents anymore,” she says.

McCrindle agrees property values can reach a tipping point.

“Ultimately, a neighbourhood can price itself out of cool.”

The value of a vibe

Australia’s priciest property is typically found by beaches, riverbanks and harbours — attributes rarely shared with the gritty urban nature of suburbs ranking high on the cool charts. Instead, these areas have other lifestyle features.

Melbourne and Sydney’s “cool” suburbs are far from water, but still record strong property values. There is, however, some price diversity in different housing types.

Sydney and Melbourne’s cool suburbs are far from the water but enjoy other attributes, such as inclusivity and good transport options.

Houses in Brunswick East have a 12-month median of $1.248 million according to CoreLogic, rising 11.5 percent over the past three years. Local apartments are cheaper at $515,000, experiencing a -13.4 percent drop over the same period. In Fitzroy the house median is $1.54 million after a three-year increase of 10 percent while units are $760,000, a -1.3 percent fall.

Cate Bakos, Melbourne buyer’s agent, has bought clients numerous homes and investments in both suburbs and their surrounds. She said in addition to the trendy eateries and vibrant atmosphere, it’s the ‘rough around the edges’ vibe of these areas that sets them apart.

“One thing in common in these neighbourhoods is they’re often former industrial areas close to city centres with a blend of eclectic housing,” Bakos says. “Former warehouses and factories are always popular — everyone loves a cool conversion.”

In Enmore, house medians are $1.88 million after rising 33.4 percent over three years. Median unit values are harder to pinpoint but ranged from $395,000 to $958,000 in 2023. Marrickville’s houses are $1.9 million after a 31.3 percent leap, while apartments are $814,000, having gone up 3.4 percent. May says despite Enmore and Marrickville’s rising prices, the suburbs had been undervalued for decades and still hold onto many of the traits keeping them “cool”.

“Enmore Road is the street of the Inner West with really cool restaurants and bars, which are propped up by Enmore Theatre. Marrickville has its popular pubs — known locally as the Ale Trail — with plenty of microbreweries and frequent underground gigs.”

She says these suburbs’ multiculturalism, mix of housing types, range of price points and easy transport options tick all the boxes giving them street cred.

Dining out at venues such as Marrickville’s Camelot Lounge are appealing to a wide demogaphic. Credit: Destination NSW

“Singles are out having fun, there are hens’ parties, couples on dates and Boomers out for a nice dinner. There’s something for everyone,” May says. “The problem is when it gets too popular, too homogenised in terms of who’s buying in the suburb, that’s when it starts to lose its cool. But I don’t think we’re there yet for Enmore or Marrickville.”

The next cool place

Getting ahead of the property pack can be a wise real estate move, but forecasting cool isn’t black and white. Bakos says anyone trying to anticipate the next big thing should do their homework, because it’s not as easy as just looking next door.

“You’ll want to be looking for areas that have lower price points than their neighbours and lower land value per square metre while still having some of those activities and drawcards of the more popular neighbourhoods,” Bakos says.

“What these suburbs also have in common are buildings that have been converted and repurposed. Simply cast your eyes to neighbouring suburbs with those attributes. I’m tipping places like Collingwood and Abbotsford (in Melbourne).

“If you’re going for something that’s gentrifying, you’ve got to recognise it hasn’t fully gentrified yet. That’s why you’re getting a discount, because it’s not yet a 10 out of 10. Perhaps there’s a higher crime rate, or challenging neighbours. You’ve got to be prepared to roll with that.”

Physically getting out and pounding the pavement to research local high streets can give the best insights according to May.

“Just cast your eye a few stops down the railway line and see what’s there. Look for good connectivity to the city, a mixture of residential as well as commercial resident properties,” she says.

“Talk to the locals. Is the popular barista about to open their own cafe nearby? Are there signs of an eat street on its way? I’ve always thought Ashfield and Hurlstone Park (in Sydney) are still under the radar and pretty undervalued so there’s potential there.”

For Jack Freeman, a compelling interior should not look as though it was completed in a single shopping trip.

The founder and designer behind FREEMAN & CO prefers rooms that develop through art, travel, commissioned furniture and objects collected over time. It is an approach that treats the home less as a decorative project and more as an evolving portrait of its owner.

“I am a true believer in collecting versus decorating,” Freeman says.

That distinction underpins the international practice he has built across private residences, hotels, property developments, yachts and private aviation. Its projects stretch from Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay and Toorak to Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean.

Although the locations and architecture vary considerably, the work is connected by a restrained design language. Natural stone, warm timbers and sculptural furniture establish the foundation, while art, bespoke lighting and individual objects give each interior its identity.

The objective is not to overwhelm a room with obvious symbols of expense. It is to create an environment that feels calm, layered and particular to the people living within it.

“The greatest luxury isn’t about excess,” Freeman says. “It’s about creating an oasis where you come home and feel immediately grounded — effortlessly chic and deeply personal.”

Collecting instead of decorating

Decorating can imply the completion of a room: selecting the required furniture, filling the available walls and producing a coherent finished image.

Collecting is less conclusive.

A collected interior has room to change as its owners travel, discover artists, inherit pieces or reassess how they use their home. Its character comes from the relationship between objects rather than adherence to a single brand or season.

That does not mean placing unrelated pieces together without discipline. The designer must understand scale, proportion, material and provenance well enough to create a dialogue between them.

A contemporary artwork might sit beside a historic piece of furniture. A precisely detailed new interior may be interrupted by an irregular object made by hand. Smooth stone can be balanced by timber, textiles or a patinated metal surface that becomes richer with age.

The tension between those elements is part of the appeal.

For Freeman, art is not an accessory to be added once the furniture plan is complete. It forms part of the architecture and atmosphere of the room from the beginning.

Lighting is considered in the same way. Beyond its practical purpose, a bespoke fitting can operate as a suspended sculpture, changing both the room’s composition and the way its materials are experienced after dark.

A design perspective shaped by travel

International travel plays a significant role in Freeman’s creative process.

Design fairs such as PAD Paris and Salone del Mobile in Milan provide opportunities to encounter emerging designers, established galleries, new materials and collectible furniture away from the filter of social media.

More spontaneous discoveries can prove equally important.

“Sometimes it’s the simple things,” Freeman says. “That piece found on a shopping trip with a client in Paris, stumbling across an artisan’s workshop, or a special memory that forms the narrative of the story.”

Objects selected during travel bring more than visual interest into a home. They carry an association with a place, maker or experience, giving the client a connection that cannot be reproduced by ordering an entire interior from a catalogue.

Freeman’s influences are international, but his projects are not conceived as replicas of Parisian, Milanese or Californian style. Each commission responds to its architecture, setting, natural light and the daily lives of its occupants.

A waterfront Sydney residence demands a different treatment from a Mayfair townhouse. A Caribbean estate shaped by brutalist architecture and reflecting pools calls for another response again.

The designer’s role is to absorb those references without allowing them to overwhelm the individual qualities of the property.

Designing the complete experience

FREEMAN & CO extends beyond conventional interior decoration.

The practice’s stated services include interior design and architecture, project management, property acquisition, development advice, concept design, documentation, furniture and lighting design, procurement and art curation.

That breadth allows the team to become involved before a room’s dimensions and finishes are fixed.

Early participation can be important at the top end of the residential market, where architecture, landscape, interiors, technology and art must operate as one environment. Decisions about ceiling heights, wall dimensions, sightlines and lighting can directly affect where art is installed or how custom furniture is proportioned.

The practice can then carry those decisions through to procurement and final installation, maintaining the design narrative as a project moves between architects, builders, specialist craftspeople, dealers and suppliers.

Its residential portfolio includes a South Coast retreat conceived as an escape from urban life, a Caribbean estate with reflecting pools, an East Coast-inspired Palm Beach residence and a Mayfair townhouse organised around an expressive drawing room.

The studio also says it has worked on highly tailored Sydney residences with values exceeding $100 million, although the private nature of such commissions means individual addresses and clients are not always disclosed.

A home that can keep changing

The risk in creating a perfectly resolved interior is that it can become too static — a composition that looks exceptional in photographs but leaves little room for life.

Freeman sees the home as something that should evolve with its owners.

“I love the evolution of design,” he says. “We are talking about people’s lives, and as they evolve, so too should their private sanctuaries.”

That evolution might involve adding art, reupholstering a significant piece, adapting rooms as a family changes or making space for objects gathered through future travels.

The original design needs to be strong enough to accommodate those layers.

This may be the clearest expression of Freeman’s approach to luxury. It is not simply access to rare stone, collectible furniture or commissioned craftsmanship. It is the creation of a personal environment whose meaning deepens rather than diminishes with time.

Fact box

Designer: Jack Freeman

Role: Founder and managing director

Practice: FREEMAN & CO

Base: Australia, with international projects

Project locations named by the practice: Point Piper, Vaucluse, Circular Quay, Toorak, Palm Beach, the NSW South Coast, Mayfair, Bel Air and the Caribbean

Sectors: Private residences, hotels, residential developments, private aviation and superyachts

Services: Interior design and architecture, property development, project management, property acquisition, documentation, furniture and lighting design, FF&E procurement, interior dressing and art curation

Design philosophy: Collected, personal interiors shaped by art, craftsmanship, travel and enduring materials

Website: free-man.co

The neighbourhoods where being cool pays off

They’re nowhere near the beach and don’t boast water views but these suburbs are attracting residents and buyers in droves

Jack Freeman believes the most compelling interiors are not decorated, but collected. The FREEMAN & CO founder creates layered, personal spaces shaped by art, travel and craftsmanship.