Prestige property: Finding exclusivity within Australia's blue-chip suburbs

When it comes to prestige, it’s not enough to live in a blue-chip suburb. To really impress, you need to reside within the “right” part of that locale.

“Some people think you can pick a ‘really good suburb’ but you could still be making the biggest mistake of your life,” says independent property advisor Greville Pabst.

“It’s not just the suburb,” agrees luxury real estate agent Ken Jacobs of Forbes Global Properties. “It’s the street, it’s what end of the street, what side of the street, all these things come into play,” he says, especially in Sydney where the contours of the land create both water frontage and harbour view opportunities.

For that reason, Point Piper’s Wolseley Road is Sydney’s most desirable as it offers views to the Harbour Bridge and Opera House. While waterfront allotments are clearly popular, the area’s elevation creates “a good or better view” from the other side of the street. “You don’t have the same intimacy with the harbour, but you’ve got a stunning outlook,” he says.

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Penthouse/23 Wolseley Road, Point Piper NSW 2027

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In Brisbane “buyers are becoming more and more street specific, not just suburb” as well, observes prestige property agent Heath Williams of Place New Farm. The two most prestigious streets there are Adelaide Street East in Clayfield, lined with “grand stately homes” and “the architectural exhibitions” of Teneriffe Drive in Teneriffe.

Principal of Giordano & Partners, Grant Giordano, says in Adelaide, they are selling different lifestyles – historic suburban estate villas, hills compounds with a country feel or beach frontage – on particular streets, although “people won’t even mention the name of the suburb”.

The “high side” of Stanley Street in North Adelaide, Edwin Terrace in Gilbertson and Victoria Avenue in Unley Park “tend to outstrip the rest of the markets,” he says of these exclusive pockets with trophy homes and city proximity.

For those wanting a sea breeze, Giordano says beach-facing Seaview Road in Tennyson “has the highest price per square metre of land in South Australia” (although he clarifies that doesn’t mean the highest median price point as a suburb), while Esplanade in Henley Beach is another contender.  Glenelg’s St Johns Row is also a prized shoreline strip.

Access to water and being able to accommodate your boat on your doorstep adds to a location’s exclusivity, especially in Queensland. “The price goes up the broader the water frontage and deeper the water,” says Melissa Schembri of Queensland Sotheby’s International Realty.

“The most highly prized enclave is probably Minyama Island,” she says, with Mooloolah Island having a similar appeal. Culbara and Elanora streets, Neerim Drive and Carwoola Crescent are “the deep water streets”, which means residents there “can have a much larger boat than anywhere else on the coast”.

“For super yachtsmen, main river properties are in high demand,” says Mashelle Jones from the same agency. “Sovereign Islands, which provide ocean access without bridges, and Paradise Waters are also in demand with yachties,” she says.

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7-9 McMillan Court, Southport QLD 4215

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Melbourne differs in that there are specific neighbourhoods within blue-chip suburbs where the most desirable property can be found. “Real estate people have learned from the church and that is, buy the high ground,” quips Philippe Batters of Woodards, who has been selling property for more than five decades in South Yarra and Toorak (where the two top streets are St Georges Road and Lansell Road).

A local history buff, Batters says Melbourne’s subdivisions in the late 1800s were to “accommodate the most successful people from that era”.

“When selling expensive property, like wants to be with like. People who are looking to buy a big luxurious house want equivalent houses as neighbours,” he explains.

As a result, these premier suburban estates, such as Camberwell’s Tara Estate, Kew’s Sackville Ward and Hawthorn’s Scotch Hill, were often on elevated land, with substantial allotments and grand architecture.

“[They have] classic styles – Victorian, Edwardian, Federation – that can’t be replicated, making them unique and desirable,” says Pabst, adding their proximity to elite schools also drives demand, as does the privacy a large, high-walled property provides.

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35 Prospect Hill Road, Camberwell VIC 3124

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Pabst likens it to an airline ticket. “There’s not that much difference between first class and business class, the main difference is the privacy and who you might be sitting next to.”

That is, if you can buy in. Giordano calls them “fundamentally irreplaceable homes” and says demand outweighs supply, given these inter-generational properties are so tightly held.

Batters’ own story is a testament to this. His family moved to South Yarra in 1860. “They had a small farm, about an acre, with horses, a house cow. My great-great-grandfather built the house and my dear old mother, who will be 100 in July, still lives there. It’s never been sold,” he says.

Blank cheques won’t even work in these instances, notes Giordano. “Our clients don’t always need the money, which is hard for people who just made theirs to understand. These types of properties are very difficult to pry loose.”