Why The Top End Plays By Different Rules – Inside Prestige Property Valuations

Author: Gabriel Carreno with Fiona Castle, Simon Pascoe, Brendan Watson and Ryan Sargant 

Across many parts of Australia, the prestige property market continues to demonstrate a level of resilience despite global and domestic economic uncertainty. This is largely driven by high net‑worth buyers prioritising asset security, lifestyle quality and long‑term capital preservation. Performance at the top end is further underpinned by scarcity of trophy homes, which are typically tightly held and only brought to market following major lifestyle shifts or deliberate portfolio rebalancing. 

While local buyers remain the cornerstone of this segment, a softer Australian dollar and the country’s reputation as a stable, transparent and secure investment destination are driving renewed interest from offshore purchasers, including buyers from China, Singapore, the UK, the UAE, and the United States. 

Melbourne 

Melbourne’s prestige residential market is also proving highly resilient, with record-breaking sales being achieved at the top end of the market.  

Toorak’s tightly held mansions remain highly sought after, with "Coonac property reportedly sold in 2025 for a $100-million plus deal. Other suburbs regularly seeing $10–30 m plus sales include Brighton, Armadale and Malvern East, and the inner east private-school hubs of Kew, Hawthorn and Camberwell. For example, demand has been strong in the Gascoigne Estate in Malvern East, which features treelined streets, large blocks, single dwelling covenants, and expansive homes that combine a heritage feel with contemporary extensions or renovations.  

Most of the buyers of Melbourne’s prestige homes are owner-occupiers and represent a mix of locals, people moving from interstate or overseas, and returning ex-pats. These buyers are highly prizing both renovated period homes and architecturally designed properties that are well-appointed, offer easy access to the city, and city or bay views. 

Many properties are selling quickly off-market, or through a discreet sales process, through prestige agents. In contrast, demand for prestige rentals, which has been strong for some time, is starting to show signs of easing. Potentially, this reflects a market preference for ownership. 

While Melbourne’s inner prestigious suburbs continue to go from strength to strength, other luxury pockets are softening. For example, sale values in the exclusive suburbs of Portsea and Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula have dropped 10–15% from the record highs seen during the pandemic years. 

Sydney  

Inflationary pressures, geopolitical instability and softer financial markets are beginning to moderate activity across Sydney’s prestige market. Elevated interest rates and rising costs, exacerbated by the ongoing Middle East conflict, are extending decision making timeframes and increasing buyer selectivity, particularly around pricing and quality. While turnover in the first quarter of 2026 is lower than the same period last year and days on market have edged higher, supply in blue chip locations continues to be tightly constrained. 

At the same time, a weaker share market and softer consumer confidence is tempering exuberance, rather than demand. Prestige buyers, who are typically asset‑rich and less reliant on debt, are prioritising irreplaceable, best‑in class homes. This has resulted in a more polarised market, with A‑grade properties transacting with resilience, while secondary prestige stock is facing those longer negotiation timeframes and extended selling periods. 

Notwithstanding the headwinds, Sydney’s prestige property market is continuing to be supported by a persistent limited supply, its lifestyle appeal and its standing as a global safe‑haven market. Listings remain scarce, with a significant proportion of transactions occurring off market as owners generally sell in response to long‑term lifestyle changes or strategic portfolio decisions, rather than market cycles. This constrained supply continues to intensify competition and underpin pricing, particularly for high-grade assets. 

Prestige buyers are increasingly focused on long-term wealth preservation and generational legacy, with many assembling diversified 'lifestyle portfolios' that allow flexibility to renovate, rebuild or reposition assets over time. As a result, location, exclusivity, outlook and build quality remain paramount, with best‑in‑class properties consistently outperforming the broader market. 

In 2025, purchasing activity broadened beyond Sydney’s traditional Eastern Suburbs prestige enclaves, with lifestyle markets recording notable benchmark sales. Highlights included $28.95 million in Drummoyne (an Inner West record), $16.68 million in Connells Point (a St George record), and a $22.5 million waterfront transaction in Cronulla overlooking Gunnamatta Bay. Strong demand was also evident on the Northern Beaches, where Avalon Beach recorded a suburb‑record $28 million waterfront sale on Cabarita Road. 

Despite this geographic expansion, Rose Bay emerged as Sydney’s standout performer, recording the city’s two highest sales at $83.5 million and $82.5 million, while Mosman also set new benchmarks with a $43.5 million beachfront sale followed shortly by a $50 million transaction on the Balmoral slopes. 

In 2026, new recordsetting sales benchmarks have been established, highlighted by a reported off-market $57 million transaction for an executive waterfront residence at 88 Wentworth Road, Vaucluse. This transaction was followed closely by the sale of 12 Dumaresq Road, Rose Bay, which transacted in the $45 million to $48 million range, representing a notable loss relative to its previous sale in February 2025 for $54.6 million.  

While freestanding homes continue to dominate the upper end of the market, prestige apartments are gaining momentum as downsizers, professionals and lifestyle‑driven buyers seek luxury, low‑maintenance living in premium locations. 

Although headwinds such as elevated interest rates, regulatory change and global economic volatility persist, demand for best‑in‑class properties remains elevated, with premium pricing increasingly reserved for exceptional homes in blue‑chip locations. 

Brisbane and Gold Coast  

Brisbane’s prestige market has surged into one of Australia’s strongest luxury performers, with $3 million now considered the entry point for high-end homes and sales volumes in this bracket, rising 94% between 2021 and 2025.  

Demand remains intense due to limited listings, with top suburbs such as Teneriffe, New Farm, Ascot and Hamilton all achieving multi-million-dollar medians and rapid value growth. Notable sales include an $18.5 million New Farm transaction that attracted 10 bidders over $15 million, which illustrates the deep buyer pool driving competition at the top end.  

At the ultra-prime level, Brisbane’s riverfront has entered a new phase of exclusivity. Riverfront homes now sell for six times the city median, with prices jumping 29% in a single year, and average riverfront sales reaching $5.8 million. The city also recorded its highest-ever residential sale ($25 million for a New Farm riverfront property) highlighting the scarcity and desirability of blue-chip waterfront assets. Suburbs such as Hawthorne, Bulimba and Yeronga continue to set benchmarks, supported by more than 9,000 buyers waiting for riverfront opportunities despite only 76 waterfront homes selling in the year to December 2025. 

Our research and our enquiries with prestige selling agents show that there is a limited amount of prestige properties available on the Gold Coast. This is one reason the area’s prestige market is still performing strongly. The lack of prestige properties available is deterring some potential sellers within this market segment from listing their property as owner-occupier vendors have limited choices once their prestige property sells. Some vendors within this market are also expecting they will have to pay a premium when securing their next prestige property.  

Contemporary prestige properties and ones that have had been recently renovated to a high-quality are in high demand, along with properties with beach frontage or that are situated close to the beach. 

The demand for beachfront properties in localities such as Mermaid Beach and Palm Beach is very high. Demand for high-end apartments, particularly full-floor apartments within boutique beachfront apartment buildings, is also very high. There have been multiple sales of apartments exceeding $6 million in recent times in areas such as Main Beach, Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach and Burleigh Heads. Typically, these involve beachfront buildings or buildings that have esplanade frontage where ocean views are unable to be built out.  

An apartment within the 39th level of ‘272 Hedges’ in Mermaid Beach is under contract for $8 million - last sold for $5.5 million in November 2022. 

An apartment within the recently constructed ‘Mondrian’ in Burleigh Heads sold for $6.4 million in July 2025. This was bought off the plan for roughly $3.6 million in 2021. 

We are seeing multiple off-the-plan purchases that have settled in recent times where the original buyer has made significant gains (like the one at Mondrian).

Adelaide and South Australia 

Local buyers are driving demand for prestige properties in Adelaide, mainland coastal areas and Kangaroo Island. In other sought-after regions, such as the Barossa Valley, there is still demand for prestige properties although prices are stabilising. 

Adelaide luxury homes that are finished to a high standard in premium locations, such as Medindie, Glenelg, Tennyson and Somerton Park, are selling quickly and regularly achieving sales of more than $5 million. For example, two four-bedroom homes on Somerton Park’s Esplanade sold for $7.65 m and $7.5 m in 2025. Many of these properties are listed with prestige real estate agents who maintain their own buyer lists, rather than running marketing campaigns on online real estate platforms.  

There were also some notable sales of luxury properties on Kangaroo Island, including a five-bedroom, three-bathroom, 4,000 m2 beachfront home at Brown Beach that sold for $5 million in December 2025. 

Perth

Wealthy owner occupiers looking for luxury homes are driving demand for Perth’s prestige properties, which are tightly held. The constrained supply and strong demand continue to create upward pressure on growth in this highly competitive market segment.

Typically, Perth’s prestige home buyers are seeking large, architecturally designed well-appointed properties in riverside or coastal locations that feature panoramic views. Beyond securing a luxury lifestyle, these high-net-worth individuals are also looking to build generational wealth.

Since 2024, three properties in Mosman Park and one in Peppermint Grove have sold for more than $20 million. This includes 24 Saunders St, Mosman Park, a three-storey architecturally designed 2016-built family home with expansive river and city views that sold for $22.75 million in February 2025, and 2 The Coombe, Mosman Park, a three-storey architecturally designed 2021-built family home with access to the Swan River and a nine-car garage that sold for $21.5 m in April 2025.

In the same timeframe, a further 20 properties in Perth’s western suburbs, including beach-side suburbs such as Cottesloe, sold for between $10–20 million. These have involved a combination of off-market sales and marketed properties.

Market outlook 

Luxury real estate is likely to continue to attract high-net-worth individuals looking for prestige lifestyle opportunities, or portfolio diversification into relatively safe assets that have historically delivered long-term value.  

The limited supply of prestigious properties is likely to continue to drive property values into positive territory, particularly in prime areas that command premium prices. 

The prestige market closed out 2025 in record-breaking form, defying global uncertainty and reinforcing its status as one of the world’s most sought-after property markets. The sector continues to be driven by a structural imbalance between limited supply and strong buyer demand, with many transactions occurring discreetly off-market as competition for high-end assets remains intense. 

While overall transaction volumes remain below peak levels, a combination of high-profile auctions and private sales has delivered record results in select locations. 

Looking ahead to 2026, the current geopolitical environment may further widen the gap between asset quality. Best-in-class trophy homes are expected to remain highly sought after and resilient in value, while secondary or compromised prestige assets may face softer demand as buyers become increasingly selective. Notwithstanding this, the ongoing shortage of quality prestige housing is likely to continue underpinning values, even amid periods of global volatility.  

Gabriel Carreno
State Director

gabriel.carreno@opteonsolutions.com

Fiona Castle
Regional Director

fiona.castle@opteonsolutions.com

Simon Pascoe
Regional Director - Residential 

simon.pascoe@opteonsolutions.com

Brendan Watson
Certified Practising Valuer 

brendan.watson@opteonsolutions.com

Ryan Sargant
State Director - Residential 

ryan.sargant@opteonsolutions.com

DISCLAIMER
This article is produced by Opteon Property Group Pty Ltd. It is intended to provide general information in summary form on valuation related topics, current at the time of first publication. The contents do not constitute advice and should not be relied upon as such. Formal advice should be sought in particular matters. Opteon’s valuers are qualified, experienced and certified to provide market value valuations of your property. Opteon does not provide accounting, specialist tax or financial advice.

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