Top sales of 2020: Millennials, tech heads and homes fit for lockdown dominate 2020's bullish trophy market

Sydney’s trophy home market cast off fears of a market downturn this year to be one of the strongest in decades thanks in large part to Sydney’s millennials, tech entrepreneurs and a widespread appreciation for luxury housing fit for a life in lockdown.

No house was deemed too big nor any commute too far as the humble home was forced to juggle as sanctuary, office, school and gymnasium for the whole family, prompting a slew of records across Sydney’s outer urban and oceanfront suburbs.

Downsizing plans took a back seat in favour of large-scale upgrades, as Mayo Hardware director James Mayo can attest given his $36 million purchase on the Point Piper beachfront from businessman Michael Zammit as a trade up from his $9.8 million Bondi Beach pad.

Bill Malouf, of LJ Hooker Double Bay, won’t confirm Mayo’s purchase, but says the extraordinary turnaround in the property market from projections in March is in large part thanks to the dramatic shortage of trophy homes for sale.

Top spot is the $95 million monolithic duplex Edgewater in Point Piper sold by the co-founders of Katie’s women’s clothing retail chain Joe Brender and his wife Gerda and the family of his late business partner Sam Moss. However, the buyer behind the two $47.5 million strata-titled apartments, businessman John Changjin Lin is not expected to have his name on title when it eventually settles in two to three years given the many real estate interests linked to him are lodged in the name of corporate entities.

Long settlements remain a recurring feature of the country’s most expensive sales, so just as Edgewater claims the top sale result for this year despite the long settlement, so too does the $51 million home of Rubicon founder Gordon Fell fail to make the list given it was agreed in 2018 when it was ranked in the top three sales. Likewise, the $21 million off-the-plan purchase in 2016 by private equity veteran Peter Wiggs in McMahons Point, and last year’s $32.5 million sale by rag trader Susie Kelly on the Vaucluse’s Kutti Beach, both of which settled this year.

Retired car dealer Laurie Sutton ditched last year’s downsizing plans to his briefly owned $15 million Potts Point penthouse to instead up-scale from his non-waterfront home in Darling Point for $32 million to buy the Elizabeth Bay waterfront mansion Berthong for $33 million.

Also up-scaling is Jason Huljich of one of New Zealand’s wealthiest families, swapping his $4.7 million pad in Elizabeth Bay for the Darling Point trophy home Callooa for $22.65 million, and stockbroker Rob Fiani, swapping his $20 million Bellevue Hill digs for a $34 million home in Vaucluse.

Northern exposure

A large number of trophy sales north of the Harbour Bridge is a distinctive feature of this year’s top 20 sales, says Christie’s International’s Ken Jacobs, a board member of the newly minted Forbes Global Properties.

There were two sales in the top 10 from the northern beaches, and four on the list overall from the lower north shore.

“It’s usually a matter of the eastern suburbs first and daylight second, but COVID-19 has been a watershed moment on many levels and that includes the changing priorities of buyers,” Mr Jacobs said. “Parts of the north shore have long been under-valued, so this is a healthy development, and gives more balance from the perspective of international buyers.”

Mosman matched its winning streak of 2018 when there were 20 sales of more than $10 million to do so again, including this week’s almost $22 million sale of former Vocation executive Brett Whitford.

There were suburb records set in waterfront suburbs Kurraba Point ($19.5 million), Cremorne Point ($16 million) and Gladesville ($10.25 million).

The upper north shore and Forest district also scored records in Warrawee ($15 million), Turramurra ($10.25 million), Pymble ($9,875,000), Lindfield ($12 million), Roseville ($8.85 million), Kenthurst ($7.2 million), Belrose ($8 million) and Terrey Hills (about $10 million).

Young at hearth

But the millennials were the standout performers, with more than 17 sales in the ultra-prestige $10 million-plus range to buyers in their 20s and 30s.

There was a trade-up for 26-year-old online gamers Elliott Watkins (aka Muselk) and Lannan Eacott (aka LazarBeam). Watkins bought in Tamarama for $9,125,000 and Eacott set a Clovelly high of $9.9 million.

Monica Hairu Yang, 29, and her husband Junlin Lan, 26, bought Australia’s most expensive house at auction in September for $24.6 million, press scion Alexander Ma, 31, pocketed $30 million from his Vaucluse digs.

Joe Assaf, 20, and Daniella Assaf, 22, may have had some help to buy their $10.2 million home in Woolwich by their parents, early childcare tycoons Charles and Colette Assaf, who in July bought the Hunters Hill home of convicted corrupt politician Eddie Obeid for $11.5 million.

Teenagers were not left out. “Rachel” Shuxin Zhou, 17, sold her Warrawee estate Springfields in the $11 million range, less than the $12 million of three years ago, and Killara’s Wirringulla Estate was sold for $8.1 million to Eric Zhongjianxiong Li.

International fugitive Michael Menghong Gu, 33, left town as his iProsperity empire collapsed, leaving his designer Mosman home to be sold by Credit Suisse for $12 million, followed by his mother’s Seaforth home for about $6.2 million.

Tech takeover

Atlassian boss Mike Cannon-Brookes again staked a claim to the top sales of the year with his $24.5 million weekender in Newport and an $18.5 million mansion in Woollahra.

Suburb records were also set by Code Barrel co-founder Nick Menere of $11 million in Surry Hills and Pathzero co-founder Carl Prins of $17.9 million in Bronte.

AirTrunk’s Robin Khuda didn’t make the top 20 list, but forked out just shy of $80 million on real estate since May, most recently a development opportunity at Manly’s North Steyne for about $18.5 million.

Patrick Grove, co-founder of iProperty, paid $6.8 million for a Balmain East cottage, Kounta founder Nick Cloete paid $8.5 million for his Mosman home, founder of tradie platform hipages Roby Sharon-Zipser bought $5.1 million digs in Vaucluse, and Invoice2go founder Chris Stode sold his Seaforth home this week having recently revised earlier expectations of $13 million down to $11 million.

Holiday plans

Even before border closures saw weekender values soar, Palm Beach had cemented its place as the most expensive holiday market in the country when fund manager Mike Messara paid $24 million in February, not knowing then that by December his access to it from his Mosman home would be at the mercy of the authorities.

Byron Bay followed suit with a $22 million high on Wategos Beach when Rip Curl co-founder Brian Singer bought a holiday home sight unseen from lockdown in Victoria.

Byron Bay’s hinterland market was another beneficiary, with Liam Hemsworth buying his own home in Newrybar for $6.5 million and a $10 million Bangalow high set by philanthropist Tanya Carnegie, former of wife of venture capitalist Mark Carnegie.

The Southern Highlands welcomed the likes of F45’s Rob Deutsch, publican Mark Malloy and film director George Miller, the latter of whom bought INXS guitarist Tim Farriss’s Kangaroo Valley property Willabrook, and records were set in Exeter ($9.35 million) and Mittagong ($7.25 million).

“Covid was a game-changer for us down here,” said Michael Maloney, of Ray White Bowral. “Not just in sales but the fact some things sold, and so many deals were done purely because agents or buyers knocked on doors with unsolicited offers.”

Top 20 sales 2020