Astonishing highs and lows of Australia’s insane property market as the eye-popping sums paid for the most expensive AND cheapest homes are revealed

Australia’s most expensive home in 2024 sold for a staggering $51.5 million – that astronomical sum bought a fantastic view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House.

Briana and Ben Voltz, The Melbourne-based co-founder of e-commerce marketing technology company Rokt bought the eight-bedroom, six-bedroom Federation home in Point Piper in March.

The Wolseley Road mansion, built in 1904, was previously owned by racehorse breeder Tom Magnier.

The mansion cost 51 times the price of a typical home in the capital and 2,710 times the price of Australia’s cheapest house, which sold for $19,000.

The property is just a short walk from former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s home on Wunulla Road one of five homes in Sydney’s eastern suburbs that ranked among Australia’s top 10 most expensive properties in 2024.

Sydney’s Mosman and Palm Beach had two other spots, along with Melbourne’s Toorak, plus Noosa and Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Domain head of research and economics Nicola Powell said buyers of Australia’s most expensive real estate are generally not too concerned about high interest rates because they generally want water views regardless of the cost.

“The price points are breathtaking – when you get to these kinds of prices, the performance of these properties is not affected by the spot rate,” she told Daily Mail Australia.

“It’s mostly the eastern suburbs of Sydney, with a few in Melbourne like Toorak.

‘It shows the premium nature of some of these oceanfront locations where the properties are highly sought after, they are very unique and there are only a limited number of these types available and this is why they continue to command such eye-watering price tags.

‘It’s all about location and there are only so many houses that also have such fantastic views – looking at the Opera House or the Harbor Bridge just adds to the value.’

But Australia’s second most expensive property had no water views after a house in Toorak sold for $40 million in February.

The park-style mansion with five bedrooms, five bathrooms, a tennis court and city skyline views last sold in 2014 for $23.3 million.

Meanwhile, the next five most expensive homes were back in Sydney.

Jeffrey Mueller, co-owner of Lowes menswear, bought a $38.5 million property on Rawson Road in Rose Bay in July.

The home has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a four-car garage with panoramic views of the Harbor Bridge and city skyline from the dining room and kitchen.

A Vaucluse house on Wentworth Road sold for $31.75 million in September.

Mei Peng, the wife of Chinese mining executive Zhian Zhang, bought a house on Wentworth Road in Vaucluse for $31.7 million in September.

The property, with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, parking for 12 cars and views of the Harbor Bridge and Opera House, last sold for $19.6 million.

In nearby Fitzwilliam Road, also in Vaucluse, a four-bedroom, five-bedroom house with private jetty sold for $30.38 million.

Across Mosman Harbour, on Sydney’s lower north shore, ZRL Capital director Enquan Zhen bought a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom house with a five-car garage, which sold for $30 million in March.

Home care magnate Jon Kontopos bought a five-bedroom, four-bathroom, four-car garage just meters from Rose Bay beach for $30 million in April.

A four-bedroom, four-bathroom home with a private dock on a canal at Noosa Heads on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast also sold for $30 million in May.

The Gold Coast came in at ninth place with a four-bedroom, four-bathroom home with a six-car garage, which sold for $28 million to billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer and his wife Anna in February.

Palm Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches completed the top 10 with a six-bedroom, six-bathroom home with space for four cars that sold for $26.5 million to car dealer Paul Warren in June.

The Pacific Road home on the south end of Palm Beach offers views of the Pacific Ocean and the Barrenjoey Lighthouse.

At the other end of the property spectrum, Australia’s cheapest properties sold in 2024 were a far cry from the sea and cost the same as a used car.

The outback opal mining town of Andamooka, population 262 and located 600km north of Adelaide, was home to the cheapest house in the country in 2024.

A one-bedroom, one-bathroom stone and corrugated iron house, set on 2,185 square meters of land, sold in August for $19,000.

The silver and zinc mining town of Broken Hill, in far western New South Wales, was home to the second cheapest property with a three-bedroom house selling for $40,000 in November.

And a four-bedroom house in Coolgardie, 560 kilometers northeast of Perth, came third after selling for $56,000 in early 2024.