Dual property deal worth $137.5m claim 2023 top sales

Two Bellevue Hill estates bought and sold by one businessman in a deal worth $137.5m in May have been named the country’s top sales of 2023 | LIST

The property known as Leura' in Sydney’s Bellevue Hill.

Two palatial estates in the country’s most expensive suburb, Sydney’s Bellevue Hill, have been confirmed as the top sales of the year after selling in concurrent deals worth $137.5m in May, according to CoreLogic’s annual Best of the Best report.

Leo Lynch, former chief executive of flower wholesaler Lynch Group, purchased the hilltop federation mansion Leura at 24 Victoria Road for $76m.

It was more than double what Chinese-Australian businessman Wilson Lee and his wife, Baoyu Wu, paid for the eight-bedroom, eight-bathroom home eight years earlier.

At the same time, Mr Lynch sold his home at nearby 70 Kambala Rd for $61.5m, cashing in on skyline views.

The sales twice beat the Bellevue Hill suburb record set in 2018. Most of the biggest sales were in Sydney’s exclusive eastern suburbs, except for Avon Court in Melbourne’s Hawthorn, which sold for $41m in a matter of days in March, and a Byron Bay ranch-style home, which fetched $33.65m in April.

CoreLogic’s head of research, Eliza Owen, said the 2023 market showed signs of “resilience”, which led to the strongest yearly growth in house values by suburb.

“Housing activity rebounded through early 2023 as buyers took advantage of lower prices, however towards the end of 2023 affordability constraints have become more pressing, skewing demand towards the middle-to-lower end of the pricing spectrum,” Ms Owen said.

Across the nation, Perth claimed eight of the top 10 spots for strongest growth in house values, with Brookdale, Armadale and Hilbert all up more than 30 per cent.