CASHED-UP buyers have spent more than $850million on mansions this year, pushing luxury home sales to record levels.
Between January and September, 125 sales of more than $5million each were recorded in the larger markets, according to real estate agent PRDnationwide.
Earlier this month, former skateboarding champion Stephen Hill and wife Sonya paid $20million for a 1970s knockdown beachfront "fibro shack" on theGold Coast's millionaires' row of Albatross Avenue, Mermaid Beach.
Hedges Avenue, alongside Albatross Avenue, accounted for a quarter of the $5million-plus house sales in Queensland, according to PRDnationwide.
Last month, Aussie Home Loans managing director John Symond sold hisSydney sub-penthouse for $16.5million, while, nearby, Brisbane-based property developer George Sample is hoping to reap $17million for his harbourfront mansion. NSW accounted for the lion's share of sales, with 79 $5million-plus homes changing hands this year, grossing almost $550million.
Six of the sales were for more than $10million each.
In Queensland, 16 $5million-plus sales totalled $118million, Victoria had 15 sales totalling $95million, Western Australia's 11 sales totalled $65million and South Australia's four $5million-plus sales came to $28million.
The past 16 years of continuous economic prosperity ultimately had to be expressed in property values, according to demographer Bernard Salt.
Mr Salt, a partner in accountancy firm KPMG, said baby boomers in their 50s were using real estate to symbolise a career's prosperity, and Sydney, as the corporate heartland, would continue to account for the majority of luxury sales.
"Sydney is where most of the Macquarie Bank bonuses are paid and pretty quickly find their way into real estate," Mr Salt said.
Michael McNamara, spokesman for researcher Australian Property Monitors, said values in Sydney's blue ribbon suburbs would continue to pull ahead.
Whale Beach, on the city's northern beaches, had annual price growth of 18.9 per cent over 10 years, Mr McNamara said.
Double Bay, in the eastern suburbs , recorded 12 per cent year-on-year growth in median house prices, compared with the Sydney average of 8 per cent.
As long as business confidence remained strong and unemployment low, the top end of the residential market would continue to perform strongly, Mr McNamara said.
"A stockmarket crash, rather than rising interest rates and petrol prices, is what will stop the top end," he said.
This era should see the peak of the prestige housing market, Mr Salt said.
"There could be another 10 years of economic prosperity, or maybe another five years, but there must be a breakpoint."
