Sydney's bridesmaid suburbs, where record prices are no longer a one-off

While property values in Sydney’s prestige housing market have soared in recent years, the surge has had a ripple effect along the oceanfront, creating emerging prestige enclaves.

These bridesmaid suburbs – long overshadowed by their more expensive eastern and lower north shore neighbours – have scored a spate of record prices in the past 12 months and a greater share of sales are in the $5 million-plus range.

Helping to narrow the gap between these second-tier suburbs and their more expensive neighbours is the predominance of local buyers in the high-end market upgrading to these beachside, lifestyle locations, according to Domain’s senior research analyst Nicola Powell.

“The $5 million-plus end of the market is holding up really well this year, unlike the $990,000 to $2 million market,” Dr Powell said.

Manly locals are known to refer to Fairy Bower as the Point Piper of the northern beaches, thanks to the high sales and major construction jobs underway that Rowe Partners’ Jake Rowe says have added $3 million to $5 million in value generally to many of those houses.

“Values in Manly’s Fairy Bower were kept in check for many years by the Catholic Church’s rigid 17-year leaseholds, but a few years ago the church decided to allow increments in the leasehold up to 99 years, which has done away with that little bit of uncertainty some buyers had about the future leaseholds.”

The suburb’s $11 million-high for a block of waterfront land stood for nine years before it was finally topped in May when the home of former Vocation chief executive Mark Hutchinson and his wife Sophie sold for $16 million.

Domain data shows the number of sales for $5 million-plus this year is already greater than the number of prestige sales for the 12 months of 2017 for Manly and Queenscliff (up from 3.4 per cent to 3.9 per cent in Manly and from none to 4.5 per cent in Queenscliff).

The number of prestige sales in Clontarf is down so far this year (from 19.4 per cent to 15.6 per cent), but that comes amid a run of top-end sales and a new suburb high of $11.5 million just months after another $10.56 million.

“Manly and Clontarf buyers are not looking here because they’ve been priced out of more expensive suburbs,” said Clarke & Humel’s Michael Clarke. “They’re here because of the lifestyle appeal, and this change in buyer preference is having a sustained impact on top-end pricing.”

In August, the Queenscliff suburb high was reset at $12 million just four days after dentist David Eyles and his wife Patricia listed their house with Jake Rowe, topping by $2 million the previous high set less than a year ago.

It’s a similar story in the east, where James Packer’s Bondi Beach bachelor pad became Australia’s most expensive coastal home when it sold in August for $29 million. Before it was sold by McGrath’s Will Manning, the same property was offered to the market for $22 million in 2013.

Manning says he has an arm’s-length list of buyers for whom money is apparently no object, as long as the property is within walking distance of beach, shops and cafes.

“For these buyers it’s just as important what’s outside the front door as what’s inside,” Mr Manning said.

North Bondi’s record was reset earlier this month by two sales by Raine & Horne’s Ric Serrao. Aged-care entrepreneurs Mark and Evette Moran bought three undeveloped apartments for $11.5 million. This was swiftly followed by a $14 million sale for a clifftop house.

Tamarama’s high of $11 millon from 2008 held until a year ago. In the past 12 months it has been topped by four sales, the highest of which was  $13 million by former fashion industry boss Robbie Ingham.

Figures show the number of prestige sales has jumped in Bondi Beach, Tamarama, Bronte and Dover Heights already this year compared with 2017, with Dover Heights spiking at 20.3 per cent of sales for $5 million or more compared with 6.6 per cent of the market share last year.

Dover Heights’ only other double-digit sale was a year ago when celebrity accountant Anthony Bell bought the clifftop home of Morning Show co-host Larry Emdur for $11.5 million.