Australia’s prestige property market is flourishing despite the global health pandemic and economic recession, with some of the nation’s most exclusive suburbs recording significant price growth in the past year.
Data compiled by realestate.com.au shows premium property remained buoyant in the 12 months to July.
Even the top end of the Melbourne market performed well with the elite suburb of Toorak sustaining almost 20% growth to net a median price of $4.575 million in the 12-month period.
At the same time, the Northern Beaches suburb of Clontarf in Sydney recorded 27.6% growth to land a median price of $3.8 million.
- Use the interactive below to discover the top 10 most expensive suburbs in each capital city in 2020
Nerida Conisbee, chief economist at realestate.com.au, said prestige property had fared well despite the challenging economic climate and it was likely the most expensive suburbs would retain value best during the recession.
“What is happening across Australia is a really strong shift to premium properties. We are seeing some decent price growth in premium suburbs,” Ms Conisbee said.
“The best performers continue to be premium suburbs. To-date, most well paid, white-collar professionals are still employed and may have only had minor cuts to their incomes.
The exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak is known for its grand homes. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
“When we look at search data, we can clearly see that people are still very focussed on premium suburbs. It’s the flight to quality, people see them as holding value better, we haven’t seen much employment loss in white-collar employment as yet and just that general level of confidence.”
“They aren’t spending money. You can’t travel, you can’t really go out. Not only are there people who are earning the same sort of money they were before COVID, but they’re also not spending much so their level of savings is higher.”
The realestate.com.au data set is based on median house prices in suburbs with at least 30 sales in the past 12 months, but does not include some tightly held locations including Peppermint Grove in Perth, Point Piper in Sydney and Teneriffe in Brisbane, which did not meet the minimum number of sales to qualify for the data set this year.
Low supply is driving up prices
Matt Ettia, from Biller Property, Double Bay, said a shortage of prestige listings was fuelling more competition at the upper end of the market.
“There’s a real lack of choice at the moment and I really think that’s what’s driving the top end of the market,” Mr Ettia said.
He said the strong demand for homes in Bellevue Hill was evident this week with the sale of the spectacular mansion at 42 Drumalbyn Road, which was snapped up prior to auction on Tuesday for around $6.5 million.
More than 80 groups inspected the property during the four-week marketing campaign, he said.
This mansion in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill sold for around $6.5 million prior to auction. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Mr Ettia said the property was the only one in the $6 million to $7 million price point in Bellevue Hill before its sale.
“Everything that is on the market in that sector is selling and auctions are doing well, too. Things are moving and I think it’s purely fuelled by the lack of choice,” he said.
“It will be interesting to see what happens in spring. How much stock comes to market will determine how strong the market is. If there’s too much, it will dilute things and if it continues to be scarce, I think the market and prices will only get stronger.”
Canberra agent Mario Sanfrancesco, whose name is synonymous with selling exclusive homes, said the prestige market in the nation’s capital was robust despite a lack of listings.
“The Canberra market is probably as strong as it’s ever been,” said Mr Sanfrancesco, from Blackshaw, Manuka.
Canberra’s Red Hill ranked as the most expensive suburb in that city according to realestate.com.au data. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
“The stock levels are very tight, there’s very few listings of that calibre available on the market and those that have come on have been attracting good interest with fewer days on market.”
Mr Sanfrancesco said off market sales were more prevalent with some sellers reluctant to list in the uncertain market.
He sold 38 Parkhill Street in Pearce off market for just over $3 million, setting a new record for the suburb by $700,000.
“The entire inner south, Forrest, Old Red Hill, Griffith and parts of Narrabundah are highly sought after. But that’s extending to the fringes too. I recently sold a property in Pearce in Woden [Valley], which broke a record for the suburb. The previous record was $2.3 million and this property sold for just over $3 million,” Mr Sanfrancesco said.
“The market is picking up slightly but it has been very tight this whole year. In some of those areas stock levels would be down by 50% of those top properties, but I’d expect that’s going to loosen up a bit over the next six to eight weeks.”
The most expensive suburbs city-by-city:
Toorak, Melbourne
Toorak and Canterbury retained the crown as the top two most expensive suburbs in Melbourne, sustaining significant growth of 19% and 9% respectively.
Toorak holds a median price of $4.575 million while Canterbury sits at $2.725 million.
Properties like this nine-bedroom home at 16 Balwyn Road Canterbury are in demand. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Brighton surged from fifth position to third with 9% growth and a median of $2.72 million, while Armadale took out number five with 9% growth and a median of $2.6 million.
Balwyn house prices experienced a 1% drop, pushing the suburb from third position last year to number eight this year.
Bellevue Hill, Sydney
The strong demand for homes in Bellevue Hill was evident this week with the sale of the spectacular mansion at 42 Drumalbyn Road, which was snapped up prior to auction on Tuesday for around $6.5 million.
Bellevue Hill jumped to top spot in the year to July with growth of 7%. It secured a median price of $6 million, knocking Vaucluse from top billing, which experienced a 17% drop in growth to $5.2 million.
Clontarf came in at number three with median house price growth of 28% to $3.8 million.
The median house price in Sydney’s Clontarf shot up by 28% in the 12 months to July 2020. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Point Piper, which has traditionally been very tightly held, did not attract enough sales to be included in the realestate.com.au figures.
New Farm, Brisbane
New Farm remained the most expensive suburb in Brisbane in 2020 with growth of 14% to a median price of $1.62 million.
New Farm kept top spot as most expensive suburb in Brisbane in 2020. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Bulimba dropped to number three with a median price decline of 4% to $1.31 million.
St Lucia ranked in fourth spot with growth of 19% to $1.3 million.
Teneriffe, which has traditionally been very tightly held, did not attract enough sales to be included in the realestate.com.au data set for 2020.
Dalkeith, Perth
Dalkeith has been leading the way in the Perth market, with the suburb securing a $27.5 million sale this year.
The sale, which is likely to be the top sale for the city in 2020, was of 89 Watkins Road – the former home of the late high-profile businessman Alan Bond and his wife, Eileen.
The late Alan Bond’s former home in Dalkeith recently sold for a record $27.5 million. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
The realestate.com.au data shows Dalkeith had no growth in the 12 months to July with the median house price remaining at $2.3 million.
Cottesloe’s prices took a backwards step, dropping 8% to $1.917 million.
Peppermint Grove, which has traditionally been very tightly held, did not attract enough sales to be included in the realestate.com.au figures.
Red, Hill, Canberra
The exclusive locale of Red Hill sustained 10% growth in the past year to take out prime position with a median house price of $1.6 million.
Red Hill ousted Yarralumla from top pegging, shuffling the lakeside suburb to number four after a drop of 14%. The median house price for Yarralumla now sits at $1.35 million.
The prestige Canberra suburb of Yarralumla fell from top spot to fourth most expensive suburb in the nation’s capital. Picture: realestate.com.au/sold
Red HIll, which has traditionally been very tightly held, did not attract enough sales to be included in the realestate.com.au figures.
St Peters, Adelaide
St Peters, which was the third most expensive suburb in Adelaide in 2019, took out top spot in 2020 with median house price growth of 19% to $1.415 million.
Adelaide’s St Peters jumped from 3rd most expensive suburb in 2019 to number one in 2020. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Despite price declines of 7%, Malvern came in at number three with a median house price of $1.212 million.
Lyons, Darwin
While there have been strong predictions for Darwin’s property market, data compiled by realestate.com.au shows three of the Top End’s most expensive suburbs – Lyons, Rosebery and Durack – experienced median house price drops.
Sandy Bay, Hobart
High flying stalwart, Sandy Bay, retained top spot even with a small jump of 3% growth to a median price of $940,500.
The desirable suburb of Sandy Bay in Hobart kept its number one ranking as most pricey suburb. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Acton Park came in at number two with 1% growth to $830,000, while Taroona and Bellerive also featured in the top five most expensive suburbs in Hobart, despite Taroona experiencing a 3% drop to a median price of $715,000 and Bellerive’s median surging by 18% to $700,000.
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