Brisbane penthouse sales surge over past five years

If the four-bedroom, six-car garage pad with infinity pool, wine cellar and views to die for achieves its sale price, it will become the city’s most expensive ever sold.

The view from the Emporium penthouse. Supplied

High-end buyers in Brisbane are increasingly trying to secure penthouses along the city’s weaving river as preferences shift.

Interest in the Sunshine State ramped up during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic – and strong property price growth and interstate migration to the southeast Queensland has changed the status quo for the property markets.

Place Advisory says penthouse sales have risen by 350 per cent since 2017, as luxury and security become front of mind for cashed-up purchasers.

Place Kangaroo Point director Simon Caulfield currently holds the top price for a penthouse sale, securing the $15.75m off-the-plan deal earlier this year. He believed the Brisbane market has evolved.

“Because of the escalation of high-end prices, we’re seeing penthouses selling anywhere between $11m and $16m now … but if you look at the volume of stock in general, we’ve seen significant increases in that $5m-plus market, particularly since 2017,” Mr Caulfield said.

The interior of the $9m Abian penthouse. Supplied

The crowning jewel of Brisbane’s Emporium Hotel at South Bank hit the market for the first time this week with a $30m price tag.

If the four-bedroom property, with a 15m infinity pool and a six-car garage achieves that price it would become the ciy’s most expensive home sold.

Mr Caulfield and wife Courtney are currently marketing another penthouse within Queensland developer Sunland’s Abian tower in the heart of the CBD.

The apartment has views across to Kangaroo Point Cliffs and is within walking distance of the soon-to-be-completed Queens Wharf precinct.

It is hoped that it will fetch $9m.

Previous apartment record holder the Mirvac’s Pier Newstead penthouse with a 50m river frontage is back on the market after selling off the plan for $14.25m in 2008.

More than three multimillion-dollar penthouse sales have been brokered through the first half of the year, two of which have set records.

Domino’s chief executive Don Meji bought the penthouse off the plan within CavCorp’s latest project in inner-city Newstead for $12.5m, setting a new price-per-square-metre record. His trophy home in neighbouring Hamilton is currently on the market.

Apartment expert Richard Temlett believes Brisbane is maturing as a city. Charter Keck Cramer director of research and strategy Richard Temlett said the past few census results have revealed locals are getting much more comfortable with the idea of living in apartments.

“What’s fascinating is in Brisbane there has been almost an equivalent percentage of Baby Boomers as in Melbourne that have taken up apartment living,” Mr Temlett said.

“I think one of the reasons there is just because the penthouse style of living on the Brisbane River has actually been attractive for quite a few years.”

Mr Caulfied said skyhomes were no longer just for downsizers.

“Something that is low maintenance is becoming very appealing,” he said.

“We’re seeing young families enter the market and the other demographic we’re seeing is growth of young professionals that are typically between 25 and 40 years of age. They’re starting to become highly aspirational.”

Renders of Kiome residences at Highgate Hill.

But, for many developers competing with soaring material costs and labour shortages, the shift to luxury penthouses isn’t purely driven by demand.

Local developer Sabi Property recently launched its boutique apartment project in Highgate Hill, offering seven full-floor penthouse-style apartments. Co-founder and partner Riye Arai-Coupe said the older demographic of buyers looking for this style of property was helping to make projects viable.

“Buyers that are looking for high-quality stock want boutique projects,” Ms Arai-Coupe said.

“The market has been relatively under supplied for quite a number of years. From a project financial viability perspective, especially when you’ve got rising construction costs, the demand for that product gives us the metrics to be able to deliver.”

The Olympics in 2032 would highlight the city’s relative affordability compared with other states, Ms Arai-Coupe said.

“Brisbane has now come of age and obviously, we have the Olympics, but a lot of other infrastructure projects that are happening in and around the city,” she said.

“It’s a great place to live and with and with the affordability relative affordability compared to the southern states has been incredibly attractive.”