Prestige holiday homes rented for up to $200,000 a week amid pandemic travel ban

Wealthy holidaymakers are paying up to $200,000 a week to rent luxurious holiday homes with helicopter pads and marinas.

The well-heeled have been stuck in Australia this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, with international border closures putting their usual overseas haunts off-limits for summer.

Contemporary Hotels managing director Matthew Fleming said all the money usually being lost overseas at this time of year was now staying in the country.

Prestige holiday rentals within easy driving distance of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne have been booming as holidaymakers forgo their usual Christmas trip to Aspen or Whistler, Mr Fleming said. 

“It has been as busy as it’s ever been,” he told Domain. “Since July every month has been a record-breaking month for rental numbers.”

Secret off-market rental deals were seeing prestige homes leased for as much as $200,000 a week, he said, but would not be drawn about the locations of top homes private owners did not want advertised.

Even homes priced from $15,000 a week and upwards have been fully booked by holidaymakers since mid-year, with most now leased for Christmas and New Year.

While many have already been leased, some homes have recently come back to the market, as the borders between Victoria, NSW and Queensland reopen.

One of the most expensive holiday rentals on the market is Aqua, a four-bedroom home at Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays which is asking upwards of $100,000 per week.

It neighbours a home known as Mandalay House that has also reportedly rented for more than $100,000 a week, or around $15,000 a night.

“They have a shared marina and both have helicopter pads,” Mr Fleming said. “They are just next level.”

In Noosa Heads, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, holiday homes have been filled by wealthy Melburnians escaping the second wave of the pandemic.

Some have been willing to pay between $20,000 and $40,000 per week for the privilege, Holiday Homes @ Noosa principal Glenn McClellan said. 

While a lot of the holiday rental market suffered when Queensland closed its borders to interstate travellers, urgent bookings are now being made as borders reopen to Victoria and NSW.

“Since the borders opened [this week], there’s been a fair bit of urgency for people to go to Noosa,” Mr McClellan said.  

Luxurious rentals such as the four-bedroom Boonburrh Beach House, which overlooks the Noosa National Park, rent for $7000 per night – or almost $50,000 per week.

But more expensive than that is a house owned by Russian hemp mogul Evgeny Skigin which features a day spa, ice bath and pool and was reportedly rented by interstate executives for $130,000 for the 10 days over Christmas and New Year.

Mr McClellan believed prices on rentals would stay at their peak for longer this year, as people looked to holiday after the summer break when the off-season usually sees tariffs on properties fall.

It’s a similar story in Sydney where the luxury holiday rental market is also going gangbusters.

Mr Fleming said there were a number of properties popular with those that could afford the rent. Invisible House in the Blue Mountains, described as a James Bond house by the owner as it hides in the landscape, rents for around $35,000 per week.

The home includes a wet-edge pool and a helicopter landing pad.

To the north, Eclipse on Palm Beach rents for around $40,000 per week. The four-bedroom home includes a gourmet kitchen, games room for the kids and amazing ocean views.

Views are also attracting wealthy holidaymakers to areas like the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne.

Jellis Craig Sorrento partner Claire Smith, who manages the department for short-stay rental homes, says mostly young, Victorian families have been booking holiday homes for a change of scenery.

“We are absolutely fully booked from now until January,” Ms Smith said. “We really just never see it in the early part of December.”

Ms Smith said the interest in luxury short-stay rentals had seen rents rise by around 30 per cent over the Christmas period.

Properties can rent for up to $30,000 per week, with the average around $10,000 per week, she said.

“When the borders opened, we did get some calls from Sydney and Brisbane but nowhere near as many as previous years,” Ms Smith said. “People are still scared of borders closing again or things changing.”