The families choosing to raise their kids in flats

ONCE upon a time, apartment buyers fell into a pretty distinct category of Australians — but that’s all changed.

Flats are under construction everywhere from inner Sydney to outer suburbs like Seven Hills. Picture: GM Architects

ELIZABETH Bay is a tiny suburb, just three kilometres from Sydney’s CBD.

It has a distinctly foreign feel — walking along the main street, you could just as easily be on a high-end street of a city like Paris or New York.

Properties don’t come cheap. The average flat costs $1.45 million for two bedrooms, or $3.06 million for three, according to a suburb profile on realestate.com.au.

In fact, the area made headlines when a studio apartment in a tiny 50-square metre roof cavity sold for a whopping $1 million last month.

The neighbouring suburbs are almost exclusively the domain of cashed-up professionals, with more than 77 per cent of the population wealthy couples without children.

That could all be about to change.

This 50 square metre studio apartment, in an Elizabeth Bay roof cavity, recently sold for $1 million.

For decades, the Australian dream has been tied to a quarter-acre block in the suburbs, with plenty of space for the average family’s 1.9 offspring to play.

Matt Tiller, Head of Research at LJ Hooker, told news.com.au more and more Australian parents are choosing to raise their kids in flats.

“20 years ago, apartment sales made up about 20 per cent of all transactions nationally. Now that’s up to about 35 per cent and growing,” he said.

“There’s definitely a trend that apartment living is becoming more popular with families.”

In the vast majority of cases, first homebuyers are purchasing flats because soaring property prices have ruled out the possibility of buying a house.

But Greg McKinley, Director at Richardson & Wrench in neighbouring Potts Point, said there’s also a large contingent choosing flats over houses for the lifestyle.

“Let’s say you buy a flat here for $3.5 million, you could buy a house for less than that. Would you rather have a smaller property, where there’s a lot more activity and things to do, or would you rather have a larger property further out? It comes down to preference.

“People are coming here, they’re having children, and they’re staying.”

He said he’s seen a cultural shift since more Australians started travelling abroad, a comment echoed by Vicky Laing, Managing Director of Laing Real Estate.

Modern flats are vastly different to the classic red-brick walk-ups of decades past. Picture: Mick Tsikas

“In my twenties, I lived in Switzerland for five years, and you understand why people live in apartment blocks. Your life is contained to the city, you get to work quickly, and you get home quickly,” she explained.

“People are enjoying the fact that they can come home and not have to worry about looking after a house. If there’s a leak in the roof, you don’t have to get up there, you call the strata manager and they fix it.

“An apartment might be smaller, but it’s less to clean, and you don’t feel obliged to stay there on the weekend looking after it.”

She said in addition to having more free time to indulge in entertainment and activities, many families enjoy the convenience of having all the necessities close by.

“Everything is so simple — they can run out and get a bottle of milk without having to justify the trip and buy a whole load of food.”

More Australian parents are eschewing the traditional suburban block, and raising their kids in flats.

Ms Laing noted the village atmosphere is also appealing for many buyers.

“It’s not entertaining in the backyard and having 100 people over like my parents used to, people just go out and meet somewhere.

“It’s becoming more of a culture like Europe — people like being out having coffee on the weekend.”

She told news.com.au it’s not just families with young children, either, giving an example of a couple hoping to move into an inner-city flat after downsizing from the family home in the suburbs — together with their adult children.

“I think we are going from an English way of thinking — that you kick your kids out — to a more Mediterranean way of thinking, where your kids stay at home and they’re welcome to stay with their partners and kids.

“The stiff upper-lip style of living is gone, you’ve got people of all ages mixing. That’s the other nice thing about it, it’s a different world now.”