Sydney luxury market records largest quarterly increase in Q2 2023

• Sales rose from 15 in Q1 to 38 in Q2.
• The combined sales value of the 38 Sydney homes equated to US$686 million.
• The average price of Sydney super-prime sales was $18 million.

Luxury property sales in the Harbour City have trumped many of the world’s best.

According to the latest Knight Frank’s Global Super-Prime Intelligence Q2 2023, Sydney reported the largest quarterly increase in the sale of properties over US$10 million, also known as super-prime properties.

What happened globally?

Globally, property sales over US$10 million have fallen 11% between the first and second quarters of this year; sales fell 13% over the past 12 months.

The greatest number of super-prime sales was made in Dubai (95), with the top five rounded out by New York (67), London (54), Hong Kong (42) and Sydney (38).

Number of super-prime quarterly residential sales (sales US$10M+)

Source: Knight Frank.

The largest declines over the year were observed to be in key American markets, led by Los Angeles, down 63%.

The total value of sales over the 12 analysed markets in Q2 amounted to US$7.3 billion, down from $8.4 billion in Q1 2023, and $8.7 billion in Q2 2022.

While declines were recorded, sales remain well above pre-pandemic levels. Sales in the 12-month period up to June 2023 totalled 1,638 globally; in 2019, 1,009 super-prime properties were transacted.

Total sales in the 12 months up to June in all markets stood at under US$30 billion, down from the peak of US$40.7 billion seen in 2021 but well ahead of the pre-pandemic figure of US$18.6 billion in 2019.

One reason behind the declines was the impact of rising interest rates, according to Knight Frank’s head of residential, Erin van Tuil.

Sydney leads on quarterly growth

Sales in the harbour city leapt from 15 in the first quarter of 2023 to 38 in Q2. It also represents the highest volume of luxury home sales for Sydney over at least the past five quarters.

The combined sales value of the 38 Sydney homes equated to US$686 million, or an average sale price of $18 million.

By sales value, Sydney was fifth, behind Dubai (US$1.582 billion), New York (US$1.142 billion), London (US$1.034 billion) and Hong Kong (US$834 million). Sydney was fourth behind Geneva ($19 million) for average sale price; the top two cities for average sale price were Hong Kong ($19.9 million) and London (US$19.2 million).

“Sydney’s super-prime market has witnessed strong sales in the last quarter, driven by a rapid surge in demand, partly from overseas but also from a significant portion of domestic buyers.”

Erin van Tuil, Knight Frank

“Given the limited supply, buyers are actively seeking off-market opportunities to reduce competition.

“Looking ahead, there’s a shortage of super-prime construction in the pipeline, indicating that the supply shortage is likely to persist.”