Sydney ranks 4th for global sales above $15m
The NSW capital is among the top cities worldwide for residential sales described as “super prime”.
Knight Frank’s latest snapshot of sales across 12 key international markets shows that Sydney is climbing the ranks when it comes to ultra-luxury sales above US$10 million (approximately $15 million).
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Of the dozen cities – which include LA, Hong Kong, Dubai, Paris and London – Sydney had the fourth highest number of sales in Q4 2023, recording 42 transactions of super-prime residential properties worth US$632 million.
This last quarter saw the city transact on twice as many super-prime sales as it recorded in the three months prior. It’s also nearly double the 22 sales recorded in the third quarter of 2022.
Dubai raced ahead to first place over the quarter, with 108 sales of super-prime residential properties. London and New York tied in second place with 52 apiece, and Sydney following close behind. Geneva rounded out the top five with 38 sales.
This is the first time since Knight Frank began tracking these markets that Hong Kong failed to appear in the top five, with the market supporting 15 sales in the super-prime range.
Overall, Sydney placed sixth across the year, with 113 super-prime residential sales, just up from the 108 recorded in 2022. The total value of super-prime residential sales in Sydney over 2023 was US$1.932 billion.
Looking at the 12 markets combined, the total value of super-prime sales in 2023 reached US$31.9 billion. Although this is a 22 per cent decrease from its recent 2021 peak, when US$40.7 billion changed hands, Knight Frank noted that the figures from 2023 are still substantially higher than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
The firm’s global head of research, Liam Bailey, described 2023 as a “pivotal year for global super-prime markets”, with firming economic indicators giving high-net-work individuals the confidence to make property moves.
“While rates continued to climb in the first half of the year, wealth creation rebounded as asset prices surged on the back of the AI-fuelled equity boom, which was then supported in the final quarter by expectations of lower rates,” Bailey said.
“2024 is likely to be defined by the eventual pivot to lower debt costs which will boost activity in key global super-prime markets,” he added.
Erin van Tuil, partner at Knight Frank, remarked that Australia’s recent success in the high-worth real estate sector could be attributed to global factors that were complemented by the country’s status as a “safe haven to live and invest”.
“Wealth creation in Australia is also supporting the market with a notable rise in cash transactions, which now represent over half of all prime property sales in Sydney,” she said.
