Australia’s most expensive streets: Where the median house price reaches $45m

Location, location, location – but at what price? In Australia’s most expensive street, the typical home will set buyers back $45 million.

The harbourfront Wolseley Road in Sydney’s Point Piper has been named the most expensive street in the nation, in Ray White research.

Melbourne’s crown went to the grand boulevard of St Georges Road, Toorak, where the median house price is $16.93 million. It was the only street outside Sydney to make the top 10 list of most expensive streets in the country.

Many of the pricey locales are close to coastlines and city centres, offering access to nature within an easy commute to work.

“It’s not just water – you could have access to water in Darwin or Hobart,” Ray White senior data analyst Atom Go Tian said. “It’s really the balance between that access to water, nature and urban convenience.”

Wolseley Road has a median price of about 27 times Sydney’s median house price. Go Tian found the most expensive streets were concentrated in exclusive pockets, such as Sydney’s eastern suburbs and Melbourne’s Toorak.

Calculating a suburb’s median house price would typically require at least 50 sales over 12 months. But for the most expensive streets, the research considers streets with at least five sales over three years. It does not measure trophy homes that would sell for huge sums were they to come to market.

Michael Pallier, managing director at Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty, said Point Piper’s appeal lay in its convenient harbourfront location, close to the CBD and private schools.

Wolseley Road sits on the western side of the peninsula, offering dress circle views. Famous residents include Westfield co-founder Frank Lowy, “Hungry” Jack Cowin and ex-Macquarie commodities trader Nick O’Kane.

“You’ve got the iconic harbour views, Harbour Bridge, Opera House and a limited number of those houses,” Pallier said. “Point Piper, it’s the No.1 spot.”

Pallier handled the sale of the $95 million Edgewater mansion on Wolseley Road, at about $53,000 per square metre. Gold mining businessman John Changjin Li finalised the first half of the purchase last year.

Further south, Melbourne’s house price record stands on St Georges Road for an $80 million knockdown to crypto casino king Ed Craven.

Other residents include property developer Harry Stamoulis and entrepreneur Grant Rule, who paid close to $75 million.

Buyer’s agent Mal James said buyers were drawn to its oversized blocks and large, historic homes.

“A fair bit of it is history, a fair bit of it is the actual land sizes of the properties, and a fair bit of it is the actual buildings on there,” he said.

“This is basically regarded as the street in Melbourne.”

He said neighbouring streets were highly sought-after and would give St Georges Road a run for its money in terms of value.

“[But] specifically St Georges Road being the jewel in the crown, I think it comes down to just basic maths – land size, the actual property itself and prices that have been paid historically.”