Unit sales draw in big bucks

Apartments are changing hands at price points usually reserved for houses

IT has been a particularly good week for apartment sales with a penthouse on Miami’s beachfront earning its owners, ex-Sydney Swans AFL star Tony Smith and his wife Simone, a very tidy profit. Having picked up the penthouse for $5.75m in October 2020, they offloaded it this week for a whopping $8.125m, pocketing $2.375m in just 18 months, and they didn’t do a single upgrade.

It was bought by a buyer from NSW who intends to use the property as a second residence.

The deal was brokered by Michael Kollosche and Eoghan Murphy, with Mr Murphy saying that the owners had bought and sold at the right time.

Further north in Main Beach, a record sale was achieved for the penthouse in the Oscar on Main building, which has changed hands for $6.6m also through Kollosche.

The property, which according to RP

Data is registered to Global Perpetual Investments, was sold after the first inspection with a local buyer putting in a winning offer.

Mr Kollosche said downsizers were fuelling demand, and in turn prices, in the luxury apartment market.

“These buyers want to base themselves in areas close to the beach, amenities, retail and dining precincts,” he said.

“There is rising demand for, but limited supply of, this type of stock.

“Not a lot of high-end stuff has been completed for some time, which is why this penthouse, along with those in the Sea and M3565 buildings, have all sold for a considerably increased price.”

The drag in supply means larger apartments, even if they are in need of a refurbishment, remain in demand.

Mr Kollosche also said apartments were a financially savvy option for downsizers looking to scale back financially.

“To buy a house anywhere on the beachfront today would set them back at least $15m,” he said.

“Comparatively, these apartments are half that price.”

Yet it’s not only penthouses and larger units making waves.

In Mermaid Beach, Luke Henderson and Matt Maguire of the Professionals offloaded a two-bedroom original apartment in the Kalahari Palms building for $905,000, a record price within the unit block.

Mr Henderson said that there was still huge appetite for smaller apartments in older-style blocks along the beachfront.

4/142 Marine Parade, Miami, sold for a huge profit after just 18 months