The sought-after Sydney suburbs where an apartment costs more than a house

They’re the Sydney suburbs where an apartment costs more than the typical Sydney house – but property buyers wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Many people don’t want to buy houses,” said Adrian Wilson, principal of Sydney’s first apartment specialist agency, Ayre Real Estate. “They prefer apartments and, for them, living close to amenity and convenience is where the value lies, rather than in land.

“They want the views that apartments in the top areas often have and they want to be able to lock up and travel, without the house maintenance and a garden and pool to look after. I think Sydney’s love affair with apartment living started in the last decade, hit a few bumps during COVID-19, and is now back in full bloom.”

Five Sydney suburbs now have a median apartment price that’s higher than Sydney’s overall median house price. Barangaroo tops the list, with the suburb’s median unit price of $5,225,000 more than three times more expensive than the city’s median house price of $1.63 million.

Wilson’s firm, for instance, is selling on Saturday a two-bedroom-plus study on the 56th floor of One Sydney Harbour in Barangaroo South for $6.1 million. An “entry level” apartment in Barangaroo, a one-bedroom on the 17th floor of the same building, is up for grabs at just $2.48 million.

Darling Point in the eastern suburbs has the second-highest median apartment price, a snip at $2,932,000. Maclay Longhurst of Sydney Sotheby’s International Realty sold a three-bedroom apartment at Darling Point Road for $3.26 million, above the suburb’s unit median.

“This market in those suburbs is typically driven by downsizers who are empty nesters and they’ve crystallised a lot of equity over many years with organic growth and they’re now putting that into apartments,” said Longhurst.

“They don’t want to live in a house; they want to travel and live close to amenity and have an easier lifestyle. The problem is, there aren’t enough good apartments around so they’re then willing to pay a premium when they find one in a good location.”

Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell agreed. She believes downsizers are willing to pay more for premium apartments in excellent locations with great facilities.

“People are after those iconic harbour views that you can get from apartments in these suburbs,” she said. “Houses with similar views would be much more expensive, as they’d have to be right on the water.

“But these are the buyers keen to live close to places where they can enjoy theatre and the arts and the dynamics of exclusive suburbs. They also want low rise, beautiful art deco buildings, or heritage buildings, or tall, modern buildings with lots of services, and prices will continue to climb.”

Milsons Point on the north side of the harbour is another top apartment enclave, with a median unit price of $2.14 million. Two months ago, Blake Morris of Black Diamondz Property Concierge sold an apartment at 1/69 Kirribilli Avenue for $13 million, and now has another three-bedroom for sale at 906/61 Lavender Street for $7 million.

“Downsizers are coming from big homes and want to move into apartments that are low maintenance and close to everything,” Morris said. “They’re also often looking for iconic views.”

Back in the eastern suburbs, Double Bay also has a median apartment price – at $1,823,500 – well above the Sydney median house price. Last year, JT Allen Real Estate’s Joshua Allen sold two side-by-side garden apartments in the suburb, 1 and 2/24 Stafford Street, for $14 million.

He says an entry-level apartment would be around $1.05 million to $1.1 million. “There’s always a lot of demand for apartments in areas like this as there isn’t any more vacant land,” Allen said. “People want to live steps to village shops and have great views and single-level living with no stairs.”

Manly is the fifth suburb with a record-breaking apartment median price of $1,722,500. Jesse Chester of Clarke & Humel Property sold a three-bedroom unit, minutes from Fairlight beach, for $2.34 million. Earlier in June, he sold another, at nearby 7/2 Denison Street, for $3.41 million.

“It’s the lifestyle that people want,” he said. “They want the convenience and views and, while the median apartment price is higher than the Sydney house price median, houses in Manly are a lot more expensive.”

Five more suburbs have median apartment prices only slightly below the median Sydney house price – Kirribilli at $1,615,000, Bronte at $1.59 million, Vaucluse at $1,535,000, Fairlight at $1.52 million and Rose Bay at $1,512,500.