Sydney’s luxury market reaches record highs

This placed Sydney sixth in the world, according to Michelle Ciesielski, head of residential research Australia at Knight Frank.

“Interestingly, Sydney also achieved its top residential price in 2018, at an estimated $76,919 per square metre… which was the fourth-highest price achieved out of the 10 cities examined.

This was Sydney’s third year in a row where the top sales price has been broken, said Deborah Cullen, head of prestige residential and partner at Knight Frank.

“This continues to demonstrate there are only a handful of local exclusive super-prime properties available in Sydney for the growing ultra-wealthy and billionaire population, and competition for these rare properties is driving prices up,” she said.

“These types of buyers own multiple residential homes and are typically looking for ‘best in class’ or ‘one-only’ style properties with a particular focus on iconic Sydney harbourfront residences with panoramic views and waterfront access.”

The report also tracked how many billionaires there were in Australia, and according to Sarah Harding, head of residential Australia and partner, there were 43, a rise of 30 per cent over 2018.

“Australia is coming off a relatively low base; however, since 2013 the number of billionaires has grown by 95 per cent – outpacing the global average of 55 per cent.”

Another trend found in the report was that the majority of cities saw the highest price achieved correlate with prime markets reaching their peak, Ms Ciesielski said.

“Across the 10 global cities surveyed, the differential between the prime average and top price achieved was just under 200 per cent,” she said.

“Over the past five years, the gap has been the widest in Hong Kong, with a five-year average of 390 per cent, while the uplift was the lowest in Paris and Singapore, with five-year averages of 30 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively.

“Sydney sits in the middle, with the premium uplift differential averaging 128 per cent over the five years from 2014 to 2018.”

However, Australia’s gap has the potential to increase, Ms Harding shared, as the report only covers established prestige properties and not those under development

“It’s very likely if we re-assessed in a few years’ time, this price differential gap could have widened further with super-prime product entering the market like we are now seeing being built at Crown Residences, One Barangaroo,” she said.

Overall, Hong Kong was the most expensive market with an average luxury price of $65,002 per square metre, with New York and London in second and third.