Latest NewsWealthy Buyers Push Prestige House Prices upThursday, 15 December 2016

Australia's most expensive homes are likely to rise in price by 10-15 per cent this year as wealthy locals and overseas buyers hunt for prestigious addresses in a resilient economy, according to researcher RP Data.

The rebounding share market and increased business confidence is underpinning demand for capital city waterfront and other top-end homes, while prestige holiday homes are yet to catch up, senior researcher Cameron Kusher told The Australian.

"You can't underestimate how important the share market is for top-end buyers," he said.

"When they lose half the value of their shares -- as they did in 2008 -- it's no surprise the top end of the market is hit."

On Tuesday, a 1950s beach-front house at Sydney's affluent Whale Beach sold to a local buyer for $7.375 million just after auction. It is described in its brochure as "liveable".

The Agent who sold the property, said the top end of Sydney's northern beaches market -- houses worth more than $5m -- had begun to bounce back late last year.

"We sold $56m of property in the last six weeks (of last year)," he said. Prestige home prices in the area had fallen about 20 per cent during the global financial crisis, but had rebounded by about 10 per cent.

In Melbourne this week, the Baillieu family estate was reportedly sold for nearly $25m to developer Harry Stamoulis.

The federation home in Toorak was sold by developers Zig Inge, which bought it for just under $15m early last year after the death of 93-year-old Diana Baillieu.

Sydney's prestige homes market bottomed in the June quarter last year and began bouncing back in December, according to Sydney valuer Dyson Austen, which compiles a list of the top 10 most expensive homes sold each quarter.

Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch's $23m Bellevue Hill purchase was the most expensive Sydney property sale in the final quarter of last year, when the 10 most expensive Sydney home sales totalled $132.4m, up from $110.1m in the June quarter.

Last year had been a disaster for the prestige market. However, most sectors of the market were heading towards a boom.

Mr Kusher said capital city prestige property values fell 10 per cent during the GFC, while coastal and holiday homes in areas such as Sydney's Palm Beach, Byron Bay on the NSW north coast, Port Douglas in North Queensland and Dunsborough/Eagle Bay in Western Australia's Margaret River region recorded price falls of 20 per cent or more.

RP Data found NSW and WA luxury sales were the strongest in the last quarter of last year compared with the same period in 2008. In NSW, 45 homes sold for more than $5m each compared with 40 the year before, while in WA 13 $5m plus sales were struck, compared with one in 2008.

Nationally, 72 homes priced at more than $5m each sold in the December quarter.

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