<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/broadbeach-qld-4218">Broadbeach</a> offers plenty of reasons to live vertically, but moving from a substantial family home into an apartment can expose the compromises of high-density living. Privacy, room for guests and usable living space tend to matter more when an apartment is intended as a permanent home rather than an occasional coastal base.

A typical residential floor at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-eveleigh-broadbeach-7-9-surf-parade-broadbeach-qld-4218">The Eveleigh</a>, on Surf Parade,&nbsp;contains just four apartments. The 94-residence development by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/hirsch-faigen">Hirsch &amp; Faigen</a> is predominantly made up of expansive three-bedroom homes, with a limited collection of half-floor penthouses above.

Across the apartment floors, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> has used the relatively limited number of residences to give each home greater access to natural light and outlook. Living spaces extend towards full-height glazing, while a series of bay windows frame selected views across the Pacific Ocean, city and hinterland rather than treating the building edge as a continuous wall of glass.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360965]

“The apartment floors deliver a collection of homes that embrace controlled outlook via a series of bay windows deliberately framing moments of view,” Rothelowman Director Kim Lowman said.

From outside, those projecting forms contribute to the tower’s faceted profile. Strong horizontal and vertical elements establish its proportions, while the changing position of the sun alters the light, shadow and reflection across the façade throughout the day.

The same attention moves inside the apartments, where the material palette combines warm timber, natural stone, metallic detailing and softer curved forms. Kitchens sit within the main living zone, with stone island benches, integrated joinery and European appliances, before the living areas extend towards the glazing and the outlook.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360981]

Three genuine bedrooms provide room to accommodate family and guests, while two secure car spaces and storage address some of the practical considerations that can become more noticeable when moving from a larger home. Feedback from the display suite has centred on the warmth and restraint of the interiors, with buyers commenting that the residences feel like homes rather than conventional coastal apartments.

A limited collection of half-floor penthouses occupies the upper levels, increasing the scale of the living spaces and adding private balconies and elevated finishes. From this position, the outlook extends between the ocean and hinterland.

Outside the private residences, The Eveleigh separates its shared spaces between the podium and rooftop. The podium is centred on wellness, with subtropical landscaping surrounding a swimming pool and pool terrace, yoga garden, private gymnasium, sauna and hot and cold plunge facilities. Landscaped retreats and pavilions provide additional places to sit away from the main recreation areas.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360966]

Higher in the building, a rooftop pavilion and private dining suite sit alongside resident lounge, barbecue and outdoor dining areas, opening towards panoramic views across the ocean, city and hinterland.

“Buyers are no longer just looking for an apartment, but a lifestyle where they can relax, reset, and enjoy a balanced way of living,” Hirsch &amp; Faigen Director of Sales Matt George said.

Interest to date has come from established owner-occupiers and interstate lifestyle purchasers, including buyers planning a future move to the Gold Coast. Many are coming from larger homes and want to reduce ongoing maintenance without giving up space for family and guests, privacy, two car spaces or the ability to entertain at home.

&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=149670 project_image_fid=360969]

Much of that daily life can also take place beyond the building without requiring a drive. Kurrawa Beach and Pratten Park are an easy walk from Surf Parade, while Pacific Fair, Oracle Boulevard, The Oasis, restaurants, cafés, entertainment and public transport are also within walking distance.

The Eveleigh is Hirsch &amp; Faigen's fourth Gold Coast development since entering the market in 2021, following The Hemingway at Palm Beach, The Emerson at Kirra and Yves at Mermaid Beach. Each of the preceding projects sold out before completion.

“Broadbeach had been on our radar throughout our time operating on the Gold Coast,” the developer said. “Following our projects in Palm Beach, Kirra and Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach represented the natural next step for the business.”

The Surf Parade site brought together proximity to the beach, protected coastal outlooks and walkability to dining, shopping and recreation. Hirsch &amp; Faigen also identified the street as an emerging premium residential address, with enough separation from Broadbeach's busier destinations to retain a quieter environment at home.

The Eveleigh is now under construction by Maxcon, with completion forecast for mid-2028. Three-bedroom residences are currently available from $2.87 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=149670]

Joel Robinson

The Eveleigh brings house-like apartments to Broadbeach

A long-stalled Campbelltown development site is back in play, with new plans for 139 apartments set to supersede a mixed-use scheme approved almost a decade ago but never built.

The new proposal for 28 Cordeaux Street would deliver 116 market and 23 affordable apartments in a part 14-storey building, bringing a substantial new project into a Campbelltown market where new apartment supply remains limited.

Plans have been filed over the 3,092 sqm corner site at Moore-Oxley Street, around 600 metres from Campbelltown Railway Station and the city-centre retail core.

The site already carries a mixed-use residential approval dating to 2016. Doroch Architects has now been engaged on a larger replacement scheme, which is progressing as a State Significant Development Application following a Housing Delivery Authority determination in August 2025.

The apartment mix comprises 39 one-bedroom, 72 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom residences. Two-bedroom apartments make up just over half of the project, while three-bedroom homes account for 20 per cent.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="136dd5b9-3791-4da6-9e31-76f533f5b4de" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da2.png?VersionId=LgOSy9nwf5u.MGswBBwaGGxuX8QpHSl_" />

Of the 139 apartments, 23 will be delivered as affordable housing under the in-fill affordable housing provisions of the Housing SEPP. The affordable component represents 15 per cent of the residential gross floor area and will be managed by a registered Community Housing Provider.

Doroch has sought to break the scale of the building into two distinct elements, with a masonry podium of around four storeys establishing the street edge before the residential tower steps back above.

The corner position has shaped that approach. Cordeaux Street faces toward the commercial and civic centre, while Moore-Oxley Street leads into the lower-scale residential neighbourhood to the south, and the design verification report describes the site as "bridging the commercial core to the north and established residential areas to the south."

The podium will be expressed predominantly in face brick, while the upper levels shift to brushed and grooved concrete cladding with darker metal detailing. Recessed sections, deep balcony edges and landscaping break down the upper form, with an approximately 11.8-metre setback to the northern boundary addressing the adjoining St Peters Anglican School.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c8b3d2d3-c561-4bfc-a5d9-a68c0c10dac1" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da1.png?VersionId=AeAEyJU02Gk2k5noUj2StziCvdQ7fW4B" />

Campbelltown has been starved of new residential developments in the last decade.

The only other notable development set to come to market this year is ALAND's Queen Square, a mixed-use precinct on over two hectares that will comprise apartments above a vibrant ground-level retail and hospitality dining precinct.

First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site

First Look: Sherlock Construction pitches apartments for low-rise Deception Bay

Queensland builder-developer MAYD has revealed the first look at its major North Kirra beachfront development, lodging amended plans that reduce the number of apartments and increase the proportion of larger residences.

The project is planned across a substantial 4,742 sqm amalgamated site spanning seven lots at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/2-6-pacific-parade-bilinga-qld-4225">2-6 Pacific Parade</a> and 27-33 Golden Four Drive in Bilin​ga, directly opposite Nor​th Kirra Beach.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/mayd-group">MAYD</a> secured the site for $32.5 million in 2025, in what was one of the Gold Coast's largest property transactions of the year.

The development will be delivered across two stages, with the first stage carrying an estimated gross realisation value of around $360 million.

The latest amendments seek to reduce the overall apartment count and shift the project further toward the owner-occupier market, with larger residences designed for buyers wanting considerably more space than traditionally offered in a beachfront apartment.

The residential mix will include townhomes, oversized two-bedroom apartments, substantial three-bedroom residences and four-bedroom homes.

MAYD has appointed Cera Stribley to lead the architecture and interiors, with the Melbourne-based design practice drawing on the beachfront setting through a series of ocean-facing terraces and heavily landscaped balconies.

Strong horizontal forms and curved balconies will define the exterior, with subtropical landscaping integrated throughout the building to soften the built form and increase the connection between the residences and the beachfront.

The project will also include an extensive collection of resident wellness and lifestyle facilities, continuing the broader shift across the Gold Coast's luxury apartment market toward larger homes supported by resort-style amenity.

<img alt="MAYD" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d1bcbb05-e659-4b47-8bd4-1e595315e2ad" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-08-27%20at%202.05.03%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=jj0XEud1X1DuLt7_KyElhjMdZGOXmLHP" />

MAYD Founder Todd Mould said North Kirra was increasingly appealing to buyers attracted to the more established, lower-density character of the southern Gold Coast.

"North Kirra presents one of the most compelling luxury residential opportunities currently emerging in Australia, combining absolute beachfront with the character and authenticity that buyers are increasingly seeking, and the same sense of tight-knit community that defined Burleigh and Currumbin perhaps 10 or 15 years ago," Mould said.

"With Gold Coast Airport on its doorstep, it also offers a level of accessibility that broadens its appeal across almost every market demographic."

The project comes as the southern Gold Coast continues to attract an increasing share of high-end apartment development and buyer activity.

Kirra in particular has emerged as one of the region's more tightly held beachfront markets, with its relatively low-density character, established surf and hospitality scene and proximity to Gold Coast Airport differentiating it from the higher-density markets further north.

Mould said those characteristics had informed the approach MAYD and Cera Stribley had taken to the project.

"We've worked closely with Cera Stribley to create a vision that is deeply connected to its surroundings," he said.

"Inspired by the coastline itself, the architecture has been shaped around space, privacy and resort-style living, creating a collection of homes that reflects the next generation of luxury on the southern Gold Coast."

MOTIV Managing Director Carly Cottam, who has been appointed to market the project, said buyer attention had continued to move south along the Gold Coast.

"Purchasers who may once have defaulted to Broadbeach, Main Beach or Surfers Paradise are increasingly recognising the value of a genuine beachfront location that offers lower density, strong amenity and a more established sense of community," Cottam said.

"Kirra has a powerful combination of growing demand and genuine scarcity. Beachfront supply is inherently constrained, the area remains relatively low density, and buyers are increasingly placing a premium on locations that feel established, uncrowded and authentic rather than heavily developed."

Cottam said the proximity to Gold Coast Airport was also proving increasingly important for interstate and second-home buyers.

"Being minutes from Gold Coast Airport makes it particularly compelling for interstate buyers, frequent travellers and second-home purchasers who can access an authentic coastal lifestyle almost immediately after stepping off a flight."

The acquisition takes MAYD's active development portfolio to more than $500 million, with the North Kirra project representing one of its largest undertakings to date.

MAYD is targeting an early 2027 launch.

First look at MAYD's North Kirra mixed-use precinct

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Castle Hill, the longtime hub of the Hills District, has been one of the major beneficiaries of Sydney's Metro expansion, with improved connectivity helping drive continued population growth, development and buyer demand across the Hills District.

But despite that growth, the suburb has seen relatively few major new apartment projects brought to market over the past 18 months.

Hills District developer Reve Group is looking to fill that gap with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/nova-r-ve-castle-hill-2-garthowen-crescent-castle-hill-nsw-2154">Nova Rêve</a>, a major new mixed-use precinct on the corner of Garthowen Crescent and Old Castle Hill Road, a short walk from Castle Hill Metro Station and Castle Towers.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377679]

The project will comprise three residential towers alongside a hotel, restaurants, cafes and a skybar, more than 1,600 sqm of ground-floor retail and almost an acre of landscaped gardens.

It represents the largest project undertaken by Reve Group, the development arm of the Kassis family, which has been building across the Hills District for more than 30 years through Kassis Homes.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377675]

Nova Rêve also represents a significant step up from the family's first apartment development, Grand Rêve, which was delivered nearby on Garthowen Crescent.

Grand Rêve introduced larger, house-like apartment layouts and premium inclusions including Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances to the Castle Hill market.

Nova Rêve takes that approach to a precinct scale, combining the residential component with hospitality, retail and substantial public and resident landscaping.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377685]

Reve Group Managing Director Sam Kassis said the project reflected the family's three decades of building in the Hills, which has evolved from trophy homes on quarter-acre blocks to larger-scale apartment development.

"Grand Rêve was our first apartment project here and it showed us what this pocket of Castle Hill could be. Nova Rêve is the refinement of that idea: not just apartments, but a place the whole suburb can use," Kassis said.

A key part of that approach is the hotel, which has been designed to operate as an amenity for the wider Castle Hill community rather than solely hotel guests.

It will include restaurants, cafes, skybars and all-day dining, alongside conference and event facilities catering to business functions, community groups and private events.

At ground level, more than 1,600 sqm of shops and cafes will open onto the surrounding streets and landscaped areas.

Almost an acre of gardens designed by Land and Form Studios will run through the precinct, incorporating pathways, seating, barbecue areas and children's play spaces.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=152737 project_image_fid=377680]

Reve Group's Romio Georges said creating an active ground plane had been central to the planning of Nova Rêve.

"There are gardens with pathways, barbecues, seating and play areas, shops and cafes opening onto the street, and a hotel with restaurants and a skybar that anyone in Castle Hill can walk into," Georges said.

The project's elevated position on one of Sydney's highest ridgelines will also provide apartments with outlooks toward the Sydney skyline, surrounding parkland and the Blue Mountains.

More than 80 per cent of the apartments will occupy corner positions, with Turner responsible for both the architecture and interiors.

&nbsp;

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Nova Rêve arrives as Reve Group bets on Castle Hill's next growth phase

Sydney

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Harry Triguboff’s Meriton has purchased a Sydney CBD western corridor office building for around $60 million with a likely serviced apartment hotel conversion in mind.
The 234 Sussex Street site (pictured below) is Meriton’s eleventh purchase since January 2013.
<img src="/images/2014/05/01/5ac4a803-c983-481f-bf1b-fe546428007b_FS.jpg" alt="">
The Australian report calculated the group spending $576 million on sites.
The 13 storey Sussex Street building last sold at $45.7 million in 2009 through Stephen Kovacs of Colliers International and Colliers International agent Vince Kernahan on behalf of Stockland Property Group to interests associated with Aneurin Bowen. 
Chase Corporation had it on its books valued at $41 million in the late 1980s.
Photo of Harry Triguboff courtesy of Wikipedia/Creative Commons. 
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Harry Triguboff buys 234 Sussex Street Sydney

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Lend Lease will begin its largest commercial tower in its $6 billion Sydney's Barangaroo South project with a pre-commitment from two cornerstone tenants -  PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia and HSBC Bank Australia. 
In a statement to the ASX, Lend Lease said it should be as an anchor tenant of Tower 1, PwC has entered into an agreement to take 26,500 square metres or  12 floors in the 49-storey building. HSBC has signed heads of term for the bank to take 8,000 square metres of space or 3.5 floors in the building.
Lend Lease will commence the development and funding of 100% of the building, known as Tower 1 of International Towers Sydney, via existing capital sources. It intends to introduce co-investors into Tower 1 at an appropriate time in the future.
Lend Lease Group chief executive, Steve McCann, said "prior to today’s announcement, we were already ahead of where we expected to be at this stage of the evolution of the Barangaroo South precinct, with two towers 77% leased and under construction, and the first two apartment buildings sold".
As part of its announcement, the listed property group said it had entered into an agreement to reduce its co- investment in Lend Lease International Towers Sydney Trust (LLITST) from 25% to 15% via a sale to international pension fund APG. 
Following completion of the sale of the 10 per cent interest, Lend Lease’s equity commitment to LLITST will reduce from $500 million to $300 million.
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kjiminez-eaYKfU7qd2

Lend Lease secure two cornerstone tenants for $6 billion Barangaroo South tower

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Ulster Developments has sold its industrial building in Sydney's Minto for $1.505 million.  
A private investor purchased the 16 Airds Road building at auction, on an initial yield of 9.57%. 
The 1,350 square metre building is underpinned with a newly secured five year lease to manufacturing and supplier company, ECH.
Terry Hassan and Alex Jaafar of Knight Frank negotiated the deal.
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Ulster Developments sells Minto, Sydney industrial building

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Global IT company Arbor Networks has secured an office suite at 151 Castlereagh Street in the Sydney CBD.
The company has agreed to lease 428 square metres in the Valad owned building for a three year term, on an initial rent of $585 per square metre gross.
CBRE’s Tim Courtnall and Tim Molchanoff negotiated the lease.
“Arbor Networks was attracted to its location in the evolving midtown precinct, as well as the contemporary design of 151 Castlereagh Street,” Mr Courtnall said.
“The ability to complete a new fit out incorporating the balcony in the suite was also a major drawcard.” Arbor Networks had recently acquired a local business and said to be looking to grow exponentially over the next three years.
In a separate lease, in the same building,  Silverstone Investments has leased a 222 sqaure metres suite on the sixth floor. The rent was struck at $625 per square metre gross on a five-year term.
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Arbor Networks secure Sydney office lease

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Robert Fiani, of the stockbroking firm Morgans, has listed his Bondi Beach sub-penthouse in The Beach House development.
More than $6 million is being ambitiously sought by the broker who bought the Investec-built three-bedroom apartment for $4.325 million in late 2012.
The 178 Campbell Parade apartment is <a href="https://www.mcgrath.com.au/buy/apartment-bondi-beach-nsw-2026/220580/?searchID=38434598" target="_blank">listed with McGrath's Steven Chen</a>. It has 242 square metre living space, which was briefly available for $3,400 a week rental earlier this year.
Fiani also owns another apartment which was bought similiarly off the plan for $3.495 million with settlement .
The block's last sale was $1.75 million for a two bedroom, 99 square metre offering which sold through Chen, but only after nine month's marketing, preceded by four months with another agent.
It's price also showed slow growth, selling off the plan at $1.6 million in 2010, with settlement in early 2012.
A one bedroom unit sold off the plan at $810,000 in 2009, resold last year at $850,000.
A three bedroom apartment, long listed at $5.25 million by Investec, sold for $3.25 million last year.
The franchise entrepreneur Sam Linz and his wife, Barbara spent $11.5 million on their off the plan late 2010 penthouse purchase in The Beach House. The Linzes bought after living in the nearby Andrew Andersons-designed Bondi complex undertaken by the developers Allen Linz and Eduard Litver.
Ranging from 65 square metre to 250 square metres, the initial mid-2009 off-the-plan sales in The Beach House started at $740,000 for one-bedders. The project was overseen by architect Brian Meyerson, with interiors by Burley Katon Halliday, after the specialist banking group secured the site from publican Cyril Maloney for $41 million in 2007.
Theere was a $23 million sale of 15 lots, mostly retail, in 2012 by the Investec Property Opportunity Fund through agents Warren Duncan and Miron Solomons at City Commercial in Sydney and Melbourne's Gross Waddell.
It was bought by interests associated with Simon Langer, reported at the time by SMH commercial property editor Carolyn Cummins as to have been completed on a yield of about 7 percent for the eclectic mix of cafes, fashionistas and providores. 
There has been some considerable turnover since the 2012 opening.
 
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Bondi Beach prestige apartment listing by Robert Fiani in slow-selling Investec block

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Chateau de Benelong, the distinctive Bellevue Hill palazzo residence, has been listed for 29 May auction through agents Michael Finger and Diane Wilson of Ray White Double Bay. Over $5 million is being advised to potential buyers.
With its multiple arches, columns, balustrades and detailed decorative exterior adornments including cherubs, lions' heads and a central courtyard fountain, the seven bedroom house has stood out from the crowd since 1977, when it was built by designer Lesley Santy.
Santy, who won a gold medal in the 1957 international furniture exhibition in Milan, designed the building for the Levy family.
It last sold at early 2012 auction at $4,995,000 sale through Michael Finger who has the listing again. It was then listed for rent at $3300 a week.
The Benelong Crescent property had been renovated after trading for $3.67 million in 2009.
The neo-classical house comes with northerly harbour views from its grand columned terraces. Its luxury living spaces include a poolside entertainer's pavilion, home theatre and gym. It comes with eight bedrooms, including a two-bedroom apartment.
The vendors Lynda Giang-Nguyen and Nhi Nguyen bought it in early 2012 from Nare Elio and Makedonka Del Ben, who run a building company called Big Dig Pty Ltd. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/new-south-wales/columned-chateau-with-21st-century-interiors-at-bellevue-hill/2011080951100" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;">It was initially listed</a> with unrealistic $7.5 million hopes in late 2011.
<a href="https://rwdbgroup.com/nsw/bellevue-hill/1129729/" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;">Chateau de Benelong</a>, the private palazzo commands sweeping northerly harbour views from its grand columned terraces.
Chateau de Benelong featured in a series of Telstra ads starring comedian Billy Connolly in the late 1990s. 
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Chateau de Benelong, the distinctive Bellevue Hill palazzo residence, back for sale

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Demand
Some time ago I went for dinner for a friend's birthday at a restaurant in Surry Hills and when the conversation got on to real estate, as it does in Sydney all too often, the lass sitting next to me who had only recently moved to Sydney (living in the inner west) said: 
"You know, I can't see property prices falling around here - there's just so much demand for property and not enough of it".
I had to laugh inwardly to myself, as I wondered how someone who'd been looking for an apartment since moving to the harbour city for all of about three weeks had been able to grasp what plenty of economists - and for that matter property market commentators - never venture to get a handle on. 
That is, how tight Sydney's property market is in those popular suburbs where the supply is all but fixed. As it transpired, she was correct, with prices in the inner west rising relentlessly since that time and vacancy rates remaining wretchedly tight.
<blockquote>
In the right Sydney suburbs where supply is fixed, vacancy rates are as close to zero as we're ever likely to see.
</blockquote>
It just goes to show how a little bit of legwork can give you a genuine feel for what's happening in suburbs at a micro level, to add to what is being reported on a macro level.
Crash risks 
An oversupply of property is <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/crash-risks" target="_blank">one of the factors</a> which heightens the risk of a property crash, and in 2003 it appeared that Sydney might be a particularly risky proposition.
Not only had dwelling prices boomed, the rate of population growth was falling sharply (in part due to interstate migration) and vacancy rates jumped to 4.3% in the harbour city and some 5.3% in the outer ring suburbs according to the REIA.
As prices cooled, construction of dwellings dropped sharply as one would expect in a typical market cycle.
In fact, construction levels fell to such woeful levels by 2008/9 that the crash predictions being peddled at that time didn't appear to make much sense unless, of course, you believed that unemployment would increase very sharply, which in the event, it didn't - with some skill and a bit of luck.
Of course, demand for investment properties will ebb and flow with sentiment and the interest rate cycle, but ultimately in a city with a rapidly growing population if construction doesn't keep pace with requirements (which will likely happen where prices are easing) eventually this will come home to roost in the guise of a tightening market until upwards pressure on prices eventually returns.
<div>
<img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RmQ0LdgPD0o/U05gmU7bKOI/AAAAAAAAMl8/vFSYWuDiy7I/s400/ckusherrrr.jpg"> 
</div>
Source: RP Data
Those who work in the industry tell me that large developers are still genuinely struggling to break even on large scale unit developments even at today's higher prices - and this is indeed being borne out in the relatively slender net profit margins being reported by residential developers on the securities exchange.
Based upon that information, it strikes me that short of grants, concessions or other incentives being made available to developers, a drawn out fall in prices would see dwelling approvals and subsequently construction dry up once again.
This is why it is so important to understand replacement cost when reading the property market cycle.
The Reserve Bank itself gave a pretty handy rundown <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2013/sp-so-230413" target="_blank">here</a>.
<div><img src="https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2013/images/sp-so-230413-graph8.gif" width="400" height="386"></div>
The above figures for infill sites relate to multistorey apartment blocks and give a useful indicator as to replacement cost of property in Sydney.
As a very general rule of thumb, when apartment prices fall below replacement cost...au revoir construction.
On the flip side, median house prices in Sydney long ago became decoupled from any kind of sensible price/income ratio, and as such are marching to their own drum and may be more prone to a correction.
Crisis looms? 
And so, here we are today.
The REINSW reported this afternoon that March 2014 vacancy rates in Sydney had fallen to near crisis levels falling by 0.3% to only 1.4%.
<div class="separator"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aXekV3_smeQ/U18L1yj0aUI/AAAAAAAAM0w/qe7FZlwm4sU/s1600/REINSW.jpg"><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aXekV3_smeQ/U18L1yj0aUI/AAAAAAAAM0w/qe7FZlwm4sU/s1600/REINSW.jpg"></a></div>
Reported the REINSW: “Sydney is going backwards in regard to properties available for rent. Something must be done to ensure that there is a greater level of choice for those seeking to secure a rental property in Australia’s biggest city."
In Sydney's inner 10 kilometre ring, vacancy levels have fallen to desperately low levels of only 1.3%, which would come as no surprise whatsoever to anyone who ventures to actually look at what's happening in the market.
A vacancy rate of 1.3% across such a dense property market is described by the REINSW as"verging on crisis levels".
There are some question marks over whether the new stock which is sold offshore is being let or left empty, but to date, with humble apologies, I have no worthwhile data to present on that. 
That may be one to look into.
Elsewhere in the state, of course, demand is significantly lower since most of the speculation is taking place in Sydney's favourably located suburbs and vacancy rates are correspondingly considerably higher.
<div>
Construction picking up
As prices have picked up, so too is now construction in Sydney, and over the coming years vacancy rates will likely eventually rise again, but the rates of vacancy likely to be significantly higher in areas where large new developments are taking place (cf. what has reportedly played out in Melbourne in recent years).
Naturally anyone buying property in Sydney today needs to be extremely wary of buying in a suburb or sector of the market which will soon be inundated with a deluge of new apartments, and that's most particularly the case for persons buying expensive off-the-plan or high rise stock.
In the right suburbs where supply is fixed, it's pretty much as you were with vacancy rates as close to zero as we're ever likely to see.
You can visit <a href="https://allenwargent.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">AllenWargent</a> property buyers (London, Sydney) or Pete's <a href="https://petewargent.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">blog</a>.
His new book '<a href="https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/Books/General-Interest/Four-Green-Houses--and-a-Red-Hotel/1015/productview.aspx" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Four Green Houses and a Red Hotel</a>' is out now.
</div>
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pwargent-M4siyDbqQY

Is the Sydney vacancy rate really verging on "crisis levels"?

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In a suburb being called an ‘up and comer’, ORE in Waterloo, Sydney has sold out, with plans for construction to complete in September.
Located at <a href="/news">Waterloo</a>’s 18-22 Amelia Street, <a href="https://oreapartments.com.au/#/home" target="_blank">ORE</a> is a luxury development with 53 one, two and three bedroom apartments spanning eight levels with lift access.
Sold at a price said to be “considerably higher than the median asking price” for local apartments, Mainland Chinese buyers are behind a number of the purchases. Back when the development was advertised, prices were recorded for one bedroom from $495,000 and two bedrooms from $599,000. Median prices have steeply risen over the past years, currently sitting at $640,500 for apartments. At the beginning of 2012, after a dip from 2011, the median sat at $513,500.
Project marketers for the development, CPM Realty, said that the sell out is due to a massive shortage of stock, particularly new, within inner Sydney. CPM Realty managing director Sam Elbanna said that a lot of land is being traded, but it’s not all being developed.
“When property is traded and not developed the shortage increases demand,” he said, noting demand is at a high not seen for some time.
“We’ve only got a sprinkling of new apartments around the CBD and we’re putting this down to a strong market but more importantly, not enough new developments to cope with demand.”
Property Observer previously <a href="/expert-insights/buying/incentives-on-offer-as-waterloo-developers-battle-government-timelines-to-entice-buyers">reported that Ore gave a hefty push to bring in first home buyers</a> who may be attracted to the incentives.
The development was designed by MBMO architexts and developed by SG Sans Group.
There is a double storey lobby, and the apartments have balconies, stackable balcony doors, security car parking and green communal spaces.
Some of the apartments were advertised with park views over Moore Park golf course, including the last three-bedroom apartment, on level seven. It was marketed with wool carpets, timber floors, stainless steel smeg appliances, a 10 metre wide balcony with floor-to-ceiling glass, a media desk and storage closets.  This three bedroom, two bathroom apartment with 99 square metres of living area and a 19 square metre terrace was advertised at $959,000.
<img src="/images/2014/04/29/waterloo-april-29-two.jpg" alt="">
The development was also offering a number of retail opportunities in the “new hip bohemian precinct”, including cafes and potential restaurants across from a planned carpark, that also suggested the sites, with alfresco areas, could be used as convenience or medical stores, as well as office opportunities.
It is noted that in the residential development there is a 70/30 owner occupier to investor split.
<img src="/images/2014/04/29/waterloo-april-29-one.jpg" alt="">
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Waterloo, Sydney sees sell-out of ORE’s 53 apartments

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Initially listed in 2010 with $10 million plus hopes, the Kirribilli mansion called Fairhaven has been finally sold at an undisclosed price. There were $7.5 million plus hopes in early 2013. It was last sold at $6.05 million by the Donnelly family in 2004.
The five-bedroom house on an 1,400 square metre estate was sold by telecommunications entrepreneur turned property developer Rob Melhem who commissioned renovations by SJB Architects.
Downstairs is The Club Room, a timber panelled rumpus room with a huge open fireplace, a full sized billiards table, games area, built-in bar and climate controlled cellar for up to 800 bottles.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-kirribilli-116221255" target="_blank">The 1905 Edwardian/Federation property</a> comes with a heated pool, tennis court and parking for six cars. It sold last month pre-auction through LJ Hooker agents Richard Harding and Geoff Smith with its price undisclosed.
Some time over the past four years Rob Melhem, said: ''We won't budge from this price. This is rock bottom.''
Title Tattle gathers the buyer is Caroline Grundy, the wife of David Grundy from Killara. They recently sold the family's 2,953 square metre Buckingham Road battle-axe abode for $5.7 million to Citie Centre Nominees, who also spent $2.3 million on the neighbouring site presumably for another upper north shore multi-unit residential development. 
Fairhaven has Kirribilli's only privately owned, full-size tennis court. Even Kirribilli House does not have a tennis court as our prime ministers play their tennis at The Lodge. 
Fairhaven, which borders Loreto Convent on Carabella Street, is viewed as among the best examples of the early work of the 19th-century architect James Peddle.
The owner from 1905-1913 was Commercial Banking Co banker Hugh Massie, the cricketer.
Michael Terrett bought the property in 1990 for $1,625,000 from a developer who originally wanted to turn the house into flats. The Terrett family sold in 1993 for $2.03 million.
Rob Melhem, a former sponsor of the Manly Sea Eagles, and his wife Fiona moved to Kirribilli after listing their modern Mosman residence.
It sold for $3.2 million in 2007 though Title Tattle recalls their redundant Raglan Street house had $4 million-plus expectations when first listed in mid-2004.
Title Tattle gathers the Melhem's are now Hope Island, Gold Coast based.
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Rob Melhem's Fairhaven, Kirribilli mansion finally sells

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Not all Sydney home owners have been beneficiaries of the recent price fillip.
Hunters Hill appears the laggard standout suburb with 0.9% price growth over the past year to its current $1.6 million house price median.
Sydney house prices are up 16.9% over the past year.
''It is no surprise that Hunters Hill has been flat,'' Dr Andrew Wilson, the senior economist at Australian Property Monitors, told the Fairfax Media local paper.
''A lot of prestige suburbs are still playing catch up and Hunters Hill is a classic example of that.''
Dr Wilson said the strongest growth for prestige suburbs like Hunters Hill was before the global financial crisis.
''But with the stockmarket rising they are certainly set to catch up now,'' he suggested.
But Property Observer reckons there's more systemic issues at work hampering price growth - certainly more so off the riverfront than the prestige waterfront trophy homes.
And indeed it is most evident that there are two Hunters Hills - with many of the laggard sales being on the other side of Burns Bay Road, and away from the more popular sandstone and jacaranda peninsula. So a high proportion of slow price growth happens on Bonnefin Road, Abigail Street and Avenue Road, almost Gladesville in location hanging off the Hunters Hill coat tails.
The suburb is a low demand locality historically with an unusually higher proportion of its sales being to devoted upgraders within - not naive about the pricing so therefore careful not to over pay. So not the usual high volumes coming in from elsewhere around Sydney, but they certainly do come from mostly the inner west suburbs like Strathfield.
Its village retail life is hardly vibrant and the single main road entry point must be a bother sometimes.
There have been around 120 house sales since early 2013 of the 2,200 freestanding abodes in the peninsula suburb which Property Observer put under the spotlight.
They ranged from $925,000 to $5.3 million. 
Just the three sales went backwards including the $1.8 million sale last year of the five bedroom at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-113801467" target="_blank">3 Gladesville Road</a> which had <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.mcgrath.com.au/buy/house-hunters-hill-nsw-2110/52541" target="_blank">sold in 2007 at $1,875,000</a>.
The four bedroom <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.mcgrath.com.au/buy/house-hunters-hill-nsw-2110/170882" target="_blank">5 Ramleh Street</a> went backwards to $1.36 million last year from $1.43 million in 2007.
The priciest price reversal was <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-113106287" target="_blank">Kyarra, the 1886 sandstone mansion</a> which sold for $4.5 million at 1 Madeline Street (pictured above) last year having sold at $4.7 million in 2004.
The four bedroom <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-116045247" target="_blank">3 Martha Street</a> went up - but just $10,000 from $2.3 million in 2003 to 11 years later a $2.31 million sale earlier this year.
The <a href="https://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/House/NSW/Hunters-Hill/?adid=2009730390" target="_blank">23 Bonnefin Road</a> sold for $2.8 million last year having sold at $2,794,000 in 2007 with $500,000 works to convert it from its duplex status in the meantime.
The four bedroom <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-112893451" target="_blank">36 Abigail Street</a> sold for $1.71 million in 2013 having sold at $1.68 million a decade earlier in 2003.
The four bedroom cottage at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-113048891" target="_blank">45 Everard Street</a> sold for $1,406,000 in April last year having sold at $1.35 million in March 2010 and $1,261,000 in June 2006 with its then contemporary addition, suggesting to Property Observer the price malaise is longer term than Dr Wilson attests.
Ditto Emsworth, the 1906 house at <a href="https://www.homesales.com.au/sold/19-the-avenue/hs569633.aspx" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;">19 The Avenue</a> sold for $1.34 million last year having sold at $1.3 million in 2007 and at $1.1 million in 2002.
The renovation opportunity at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-113960383" target="_blank">2 Johnson Street</a> sold last year at $1.38 million having sold at $1.35 million in 2006.
The 1886 extended house at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-114061947" target="_blank">4 Alexander Street</a> sold for $3.3 million last year having sold at $3.25 million in 2008.
The riverfront home at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-115862427" target="_blank">37 Bonnefin Road</a> sold for $3,155,000 earlier this year having sold at $3.05 million in 2007. Not much growth between 2007 also at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-113687311" target="_blank">21 Madeline Street</a> with its sale of $2.66 million in 2007 and $2.7 million last year.
The house at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-113219875" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.3em;">65 Woolwich Road</a> sold for $2 million last year having sold in 2010 for $1.91 million.
The contemporary home at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-113574783" target="_blank">17 Augustine Street</a> sold for $1.88 million last year having sold at $1.8 million in 2011.
The four bedroom <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-107421916" target="_blank">36A Barons Crescent</a> sold for $1,505,000 last year having sold at $1.4 million in 2006.
The three bedroom renovated house at 48 Bonnfin Road sold for <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.mcgrath.com.au/buy/house-hunters-hill-nsw-2110/178504" target="_blank">$1.52 million</a> last year having sold at <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.mcgrath.com.au/buy/house-hunters-hill-nsw-2110/59334" target="_blank">$1.45 million</a> in 2008.
The sale of <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-hunters+hill-114303163" target="_blank">80B Park Road</a> shows not even the introduction of a fresh estate agency can overcome the price lethargy with it selling at $1,328,000 last year having sold at $1.29 million in 2006.
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