While big sales might be concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, each state has its own ‘millionaire rows’. Photograph: Image FactoryGowan Stubbings can still remember the rush of his first sale 20 years ago. It was a one-bedroom apartment in theNow Stubbings is the executive director of Melbourne’s most prominent luxury real estate agency, Kay & Burton. He shows prospective buyers mansions by helicopter and has the numbers of the city’s rich and powerful in his phone.
The majority of clients want sales that happen quickly and quietly, he says. It’s stealth wealth on steroids and many of the transactions are off-market. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Tim Lawless, the executive research director of CoreLogic’s Asia-Pacific division, says there’s no real definition of what price point is considered “luxury”, which can make tracking it hard. While big sales might be concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, each state has its own “millionaire rows”.There have been high-end sales of coastal and riverfront Perth properties and homes along the Brisbane River or around the inner-city hills district.
Uig Lodge in Point Piper fetched a record-breaking $130m when it was bought by Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar in 2022. That record is expected to be doubled by Wingadal, the family home of John Symond, the founder of Aussie Home Loans.Wingadal is the size of four typical residential blocks; has six bedrooms, unobstructed views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, a pool, a movie theatre, two commercial kitchens and an entertainment floor that can accommodate 500 guests.