Rightsizing retirees draw new prestige property map
LOS ANGELES: Rightsizing retirees are redrawing property maps now in over 60 countries as they craft change.
Barangaroo has overtaken Milsons Point, Brighton East has beaten Balwyn, and Paradise Point has pushed aside Noosa Heads for the priciest apartments across Australia’s eastern seaboard as luxury apartment sales have almost tripled over the past 10 years.
The development boom focused on prestige units for the growing cohort of primarily retirees choosing the luxury, security and lifestyle of apartments over houses has reshaped the centre of upmarket living in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, new industry data shows.
Large apartments with amenities such as resort-style pools, concierge services and smart home technology have underpinned the development of new luxury housing stock, giving areas such as city-fringe Barangaroo a median apartment price of $3.58 million in real estate agency McGrath’s rightsizing report, ahead of the $2.1 million of Milsons Point, which topped the list five years ago.
At a time of soaring construction costs, luxury apartments targeting downsizers willing to pay hefty prices have been the only new projects feasible to develop. This has drawn developers to locations able to support this new stock, shaking up the prestige property rankings.
“People who are downsizing from a large family home don’t want to compromise on space,” McGrath head of research Michelle Ciesielski said.
“They’re coming from super-prestige houses. Amenities are now a huge part of this luxury apartment sector, extending beyond the swimming pool and barbecue area.”
Nationally 81,300 people downsized between FY21 and FY25, making $20.8 billion in contributions to their super, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In Victoria, Brighton East recorded the strongest median apartment prices at $1.4 million, followed by Mont Albert North ($1.34 million). Those suburbs did not make the top 10 ranking five years ago, according to McGrath’s report.
Gold Coast apartments have overtaken Sunshine Coast for the highest median prices in Queensland. Paradise Point and Main Beach, both with a median apartment price of $1.7 million, ranked highest, but in 2020, Noosa Heads ($1 million), Sunshine Beach ($950,000) and Bulimba ($730,000) topped the list.
Gold Coast has had an 88 per cent lift in prestige apartment prices since the end of 2020, followed by Brisbane (60 per cent), Sydney (34 per cent) and Melbourne (32 per cent).
Domain’s economics chief Nicola Powell said high construction costs mean that luxury apartments are the only projects that financially stack up for many developers at the moment.
Powell said luxury apartments can help with overall affordability through a so-called filtering effect. When high-income households move to apartments, they free up older homes for the next cohort looking to upsize, she said.
“When you look at the performance of market segments, it’s actually the entry level that’s been leading price growth in many capital cities and that tells us that we have a high level of demand for entry-priced property,” Powell said.
“The real structural issue is the missing middle … that is where the housing is most needed for affordability.”
The missing middle refers to homes such as terraces and townhouses that are cheaper than detached houses but still have enough room for families, in established suburbs with good access to transport, schools and shops.
But market rankings are likely to change again.
While high sale prices will prompt developers to build more, the best locations in the most popular areas become built out and subsequent projects have sites where the location is worse, views less and buyers will be willing to pay less, McGrath warned.
“Developers need to be mindful that there’s a lot more competition for this type of product, which was not the story when we were talking about it back in 2020,” Ciesielski said.
In 2019, 17 per cent of the Gold Coast’s apartments had three or more bedrooms, but that’s grown to 45 per cent in 2025. In the same timeframe, Sydney’s stock has grown by 14 per cent, Brisbane’s has risen by 17 per cent, while Melbourne’s has stayed about the same.
By 2028, 40 per cent of apartments in prime areas in Melbourne and Brisbane will have three bedrooms, followed by 34 per cent in the Gold Coast and 31 per cent in Sydney, the report said.
“We are observing in suburbs where supply has temporarily run ahead of demand, that prestige apartments without a view and are located further away from the waterfront, parklands and amenities, tend to be the first impacted with longer selling times and a pause in price growth,” Ciesielski said.
Separate figures from Cotality last year showed a 6.7 per cent quarterly decline in the value of apartments in lower north shore Sydney’s Milsons Point, in part because the suburb did not have the larger apartments buyers were increasingly seeking.