Kiwi mansions are cheap as chips compared to the price of Australia’s luxury homes, research shows.
According to a recent report, Sydney ranked ninth globally for “super prime sales”.
In the year to the end of June 2023, Sydney recorded 199 residential sales for more than A$15 million (NZ$16m). Over the same period, New Zealand recorded just seven settled sales of $16m-plus.
To drive home the point, New Zealand’s biggest residential real estate transaction, a $40m-plus sale of an estate in Queenstown in July this year, is less than a third of the A$130m Australian tech entrepreneur Scott Farquhar paid for a baronial mansion in Sydney’s Point Piper last year.
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And Point Piper isn’t even Australia’s most expensive suburb. Its median sale price is only A$5m, well short of the $8.4m median sale price of the country’s wealthiest enclave, Bellevue Hill, just one suburb along.
Herne Bay, New Zealand’s most expensive suburb, has by way of comparison an average property value of NZ$3.499m, according to the latest OneRoof-Valocity house price data.
Nerida Conisbee, Ray White’s chief economist for Australia and New Zealand, said if you took Sydney out of the equation, the prestige property market in both countries would be quite similar.
“The difference isn’t so much between Australia and New Zealand. It’s just that Sydney is such an outlier in terms of how expensive luxury properties are,” Conisbee said.
“If you looked in other cities around Australia, the pricing would be very similar to what you see in Auckland.”
She said most of Australia’s big sales tended to take place in Sydney’s wealthy eastern suburbs. “The most expensive homes tend to be on the waterfront and are tightly held. The wealth in Sydney is also at a different level to what’s in Auckland,” she said.
“That’s not to say that there aren’t some incredibly wealthy people in Auckland. But in Sydney, you have a lot of international headquarters. You have a lot of investment banks. A lot of mining and tech money and a lot of family money.”
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee: “The difference isn't so much between Australia and New Zealand. It's just that Sydney is such an outlier in terms of how expensive luxury properties are." Photo / Supplied
“Melbourne also has a lot of really wealthy people, but the most expensive area, Toorak, is a nice suburb. But it’s not Point Piper. It has big mansions, but beyond that there’s not much going for it. It doesn’t have water. Point Piper has the big mansions, the water, the harbour, and it’s close to the city.”
Former Auckland Grammar alumnus and Eastern Sydney agent Wayne Ihaka, of Raine & Home, said Sydney harbour properties often have better views than those in Auckland, taking in the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
The properties in the trophy suburbs of Point Piper, Rose Bay, and Vaucluse are typically on larger sites, he added. “A lot of the blocks in Sydney’s prime suburbs are a lot bigger generally. A lot of them are around 2000sqm in size.”
The quality of the homes might also be better. “In New Zealand you build a lot of wooden houses, for obvious reasons. It’s an earthquake zone and it goes back to the original building back in the 1800s. Even in Remuera, for instance, I don’t recollect a lot of brick and tile.
“Over here, you won’t get many wooden cottages at all, unless you go to the early settler cottages around Balmain and places like that. It’s all brick and tile, or solid construction. It’s totally different.”
Wealthy homes line the the skyline of Point Piper in Sydney. Photo / Getty Images
One of Australia's most expensive homes: a Victorian mansion in Point Piper, which sold for A$71m in 2017. Photo / Supplied
The climate also made a difference, said Ihaka. “There is a better climate in Sydney. A lot of the places have the lifestyle geared towards the outside. Then you have the large gardens with the pool, the entertaining, the cabanas, the kitchens, and the living opened directly out into the gardens. Then all the accommodation is on the second or third floors. It’s a lifestyle type of design.”
Ihaka said he spent last Christmas with a high-profile Kiwi at their home in St Heliers. It was as well appointed as a high-end Sydney home, but Australian trophy homes are definitely larger and have higher ceilings, he said.
Byron Bay Ray White agent April Nicolson said Australian actor Chris Hemsworth and his Hollywood connections have helped to drive up prices in her patch. The seaside destination regularly attracts Hollywood A-listers such as Matt Damon, Zac Efron, and Melissa McCarthy. “We call Byron Bay Australia’s Hollywood,” she said.
This year a buyer paid A$37m for a 48ha property called The Range. The estate was previously owned by Tom and Emma Lane, of the Oroton fashion empire.
Byron Bay has become a hotspot for wealthy Australians. Photo / Getty Images
Actor Chris Hemsworth surfing in Byron Bay. Photo / Getty Images
Like Ihaka, Nicolson said one big difference between homes in Byron Bay and those in New Zealand is that they are designed for the warmer climate and lifestyle. “I guess that would be the big significant difference between New Zealand properties of that calibre. [Byron Bay properties] are beachfront, and it’s all about having that open plan, and feeling spacious.” The most sought-after homes in Byron Bay itself are at Wategos Beach, she said.
It’s not all Aussie bluster. Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen, who specialises in high-end properties along Auckland’s waterfront, has similar comments to make. “Auckland is a cool city. But Sydney is a true international city. Sydney harbour is very desirable and there are all the amenities of an international city. There are more people earning more money and they have a higher net worth than New Zealanders,” he said.
Sydney attracts international CEOs who either get residency and buy expensive homes or are bought homes to live in by big corporates. “The quality [of homes] is better. Australians know how to build houses better than Kiwis. You don’t go to Sydney and see plaster homes on key sites.”
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