REA

NERIDA CONISBEE

The beach at Noosa

Beachside luxury: summer’s biggest hotspots

The summer holidays are a great time to get away and relax –especially if you can relocate to your very own luxury beachside abode. While there is no shortage of beautiful beaches with amazing homes in Australia, when it comes to searching on realestate.com.au, Australians continue to flock to the same popular destinations. If you’re in the market for a beach house and run in certain social circles, this is where you should look.

Over the break, Melbourne’s business elite converge on Portsea, Sydney celebrities head north to Palm Beach and families with young kids make the annual trip to Noosa, while the up-and-coming, Instagram-influencer crowd unwind in Byron Bay.

What is surprising, however, is that the most popular luxury beachside location in Australia at the moment is an area that is far more private and far more laid back than the usual summer holiday haunts. Tightly held Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria is the most popular premium beach location in Australia. It is close to Portsea so would attract a similar crowd, but is far more low key and private than its iconic rival.

It is also an area that historically has been undiscovered, although clearly this may no longer be true. The most expensive sale in 2019, according to realestate.com.au, was a home at 33 Bass Street with a $6.8 million price tag.

The who’s who in Sydney (and Hollywood) prefer to make the short trip north to Palm Beach. The Sydney beachside location is less for the Instagram crowd and more for those who value their privacy. It has been a destination for Nicole Kidman and her family, Elle Macpherson, Mick Jagger and Rachel Griffiths. Of the top 10 most popular luxury beach locations, it is the second most expensive, with a median house price of $3.6 million. Whale Beach is the most expensive suburb on the list, with a median price of $3.7 million, and is the third most popular luxury beachside destination in Australia.

If you’re under 40, Byron Bay is a more popular option. In Byron there is a multitude of younger, cooler people buying or holidaying. Think the Hemsworths, friends of the Hemsworths, what Vanity Fair dubbed in a profile piece “murfers” (mums who surf), or visiting Hollywood celebrities. Byron is no longer the alternative seaside town it once was and now has prices rivalling those of many Sydney beachside suburbs. In the past year the most expensive property sold, as recorded on realestate.com.au, was 11 Marine Parade, which went for $18.85 million in March.

Southeast Queensland also has its fair share of luxury beachside holiday destinations. Mermaid Beach and Broadbeach Waters on the Gold Coast are among the top 10, while Noosa on the Sunshine Coast is another favourite for holidaymakers. All have a number of high-end luxury homes, but the most expensive sale in 2019 recorded on realestate.com.au was a $10.3 million double block at Mermaid Beach. What’s distinctive about southeast Queensland is the level of interstate and international search activity. Sydneysiders and pretty much everyone in Australia loves the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast equally. However, Melburnians show a distinct preference for Noosa, while overseas property seekers primarily look for homes on the Gold Coast. If you are from Melbourne, well off and have young children (just a personal observation), then Noosa is likely to be a good fit.

You might also have a beach house in Portsea. Why stop at one? Portsea tends to attract Melbourne money and the majority of famous faces are exceptionally well connected with Australia’s business world. If you live in Toorak or Brighton and want to hang out with your neighbours over summer, then Portsea is the place to be. The luxury destination’s $2 million median doesn’t adequately reflect just how expensive many of the homes are. The latest big-ticket sale was a Hamptons-style home that sold in October for more than $20 million. My own favourite luxury beachside location is Byron Bay. I’m an economist so I clearly don’t fit into the Instagram influencer crowd, but I’m too young for Portsea, my kids are too old for Noosa, and I’m not famous enough for Palm Beach. I also just really like the beaches!

Nerida Conisbee, realestate.com.au Chief Economist

Beach Region Views per listing Median price ($M) Flinders Morington Peninsula 6,071 1.7 Palm Beach Sydney-Northern beaches 3,802 3.6 Whale beach Sydney-Northern beaches 3,331 3.7 Byron Bay Richmond-Tweed 2,027 1.3 Mermaid Beach Gold Coast 2,872 1.5 Broadbeach Waters Gold Coast 2,719 1.1 Portsea Mornington Peninsula 2,383 2.0 Sunshine Beach Sunshine Coast 2,073 1.4 Lorne Geelong 1,794 1.3 Noosa Head Sunshine Coast 1,722 1.1 Most popular luxury beach locations in Australia, summer 2020

Cliff Richard’s estate BARBADOS

GREEK HIDEAWAY

Secret Cape, a stone-built contemporary home, is named after its remote location on a rocky peninsula on the Greek island of Paros. The peninsula position affords it sweeping views of the island, azure waters and a horizon dotted with uninhabited rocky islands. Its rooms open onto terraces with views out to sea. Those views as well as private beach access are the property’s main selling point. “It almost feels like your own private island, yet it is close to all that Paros has to offer,” says Savvas Savvaidis of Greece Sotheby’s International Realty, which has listed the home for €8.7 million ($14.06). The main house has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a living room, a dining room and two kitchens. There are also two guesthouses. Paros is part of the Cyclades, a group of islands southeast of the mainland that includes holiday hotspots Mykonos and Satorini. CLAIRE CARPONEN

British pop music icon Sir Cliff Richard has put his sunny seaside Barbados estate back up for sale. The picture of a “Summer Holiday,” the luxurious villa, perched on 1.1ha of land about 400m from the beach, hit the market this month asking just over £6.8 million ($12.9 million). Richard, 79, has reportedly made Barbados his primary residence for more than a decade after selling a home in Surrey, England, in 2006 and downsizing his real estate portfolio. A 2009 TV special on Richard was recorded at this exclusive Caribbean estate, which he is said to have built up after buying the land in the mid2000s. “It’s my own personal little piece of paradise,” he told interviewer Piers Morgan. The house sits within the guard-gated Sugar Hill Estate, which offers residents access to floodlit tennis courts, dining at the communal clubhouse, a pool and a gym.

Richard’s estate, known as Coral Sundown, has its own pool and patio area with panoramic views over the turquoise ocean in the distance. The dramatic entryway features a bridge to the front door, with a canopy of tropical foliage and set within elaborate Mission revival-style architecture. The front door leads into a voluminous living room with views over the ocean and vaulted ceilings. There are six bedrooms and six bathrooms, and several balconies. There’s also a private tennis court with a courtside pergola, and a garage. “Coral Sundown is ideal for entertaining and boasts a spacious kitchen with staff quarters and laundry room,” reads the listing. BECKIE STRUM

CALIFORNIAN CROWNING GLORY

An oceanfront new build in Corona del Mar, California, has hit the market for $US24.995 million ($36.23 million). The three-storey home is where “modern architecture meets sophisticated interiors”, says Tim Smith, a listing agent at The Smith Group with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. Six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms are spread across 892sq m of living space, and a rooftop deck has panoramic views of the Pacific. “Because of a premier corner location, almost every room comes with an ocean view,” Smith says. “It’s within walking distance of a great village, along the Orange County coastline.” The home also comes with a media room, a wine room and a fitness centre with spa. Floor-to-ceiling windows and glass floor panels around the stairwell admit natural light to all three levels. YALING JIANG