Sydney prestige property: Ultra-rich get richer from soaring trophy home values

PHOTO: Sydney. FILE

Sydney’s ultra-rich citizenry has often been accused of living in a parallel universe to the rest of us, and when it comes to their trophy home market that is certainly true.

As the broader housing market shows the first signs of flat lining values and borrowers face the first interest rate rise in a decade, high-end home owners are seeing values skyrocket in the most expensive suburbs.

Exclusive harbourside postcodes in the eastern suburbs were among the city’s top performers in the 12 months to March, led by a 42.8 per cent jump in the Vaucluse median house price that more than doubled the 21 per cent price growth of broader Sydney, according to Domain data.

Dover Heights jumped 40.3 per cent, Rose Bay rose 40.1 per cent, Woollahra was up 39.8 per cent and Double Bay up 31.1 per cent. Arguably Sydney’s most expensive suburb, Point Piper, had too few house sales to record a median price movement.

“An interest rate rise of 0.25 basis points is not a factor for buyers in these top markets,” Highland Property Double Bay’s Bill Malouf said.

Ken Jacobs, of Forbes Global Properties, said many of Sydney’s most expensive houses are purchased without the need for finance, and when a mortgage is applied to the property it is usually only for tax implications or business reasons rather than any affordability issues.

**The ultra-prestige harbourside suburbs of the eastern suburbs are among Sydney’s top-performing markets. CREDIT: DOMAIN**

Fuelling the growth across prestige neighbourhoods is an acute shortage of ultra-prestige homes for sale to meet demand, The Agency’s Ben Collier said.

Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch surreptitiously bought their neighbours’ Bellevue Hill home for $4.4 million

“Downsizers can’t find housing they want to move to, so they’re instead future-proofing the family home by adding lifts or widening hallways, and that in turn is further tightening stock levels.”

Collier says the ripple effect is spreading across the greater eastern suburbs. “High demand in Bellevue Hill would usually spill over to Vaucluse or Woollahra, but that spill-over has also spread to Centennial Park,” he said.

There is no median house price data for Centennial Park, given too few sales, but the suburb high has been reset twice in recent months at $20.5 million, both well in excess of the high set in 2018 at $16.5 million.

**The Ganeden mansion sold in February for more than $62 million, helping boost the Vaucluse median rise of 42.8 per cent in the year to March.**

Likewise, oceanfront suburbs like North Bondi, Bronte and Clovelly are among some of the top-performing markets, up 36.2 per cent, 35.1 per cent and 40.6 per cent respectively.

PPD’s Alexander Phillips says in his core market, the slightly more affordable oceanfront suburbs, there is more pull-back on the market from buyers, given interest rates, stock market nerves and general cost of living pressures.

“If interest rates go up another 2 per cent we’ll be fine, but beyond that the market would get shaky,” Phillips said.

Phillips says what’s keeping the market level with last year is the fact there are far fewer properties being listed for sale. “In April last year I did about 70 appraisals, and this April I did 48. And May is panning out to be much the same,” Phillips said.

The best performing high-end market is Palm Beach, with a median house price up 50.2 per cent.

The upper north shore’s most prestigious suburbs – from Wahroonga to Warrawee, Killara, Pymble, Lindfield and Gordon – have also secured median house price rises greater than the Sydney average, led by Roseville’s 35.2 per cent growth.