The most viewed properties in your suburb
Sarah Dowling, Property News Editor
First published 17 March 2022, 12:44 PM
When it comes to property listings, people love a little stickybeak. Now, new data has revealed the types of homes attracting the most views in each suburb in Australia.
While dreamy mansions with breathtaking views and luxury amenities dominated the most-viewed list, some rather humble abodes also attracted plenty of attention.
PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said the results speak to the fact that we are a real estate-obsessed nation.
“Property has been such a hot topic for Australians this year and there’s been a record pace of price growth, which has meant that interest in the property market has surged as a result,” Ms Creagh said.
Use the interactive map to see the most viewed property listings in your suburb
The data, which shows the most-viewed property listings on realestate.com.au over the year to February 2022, revealed a strong preference for large homes with lots of bedrooms, sprawling gardens, and often a pool and tennis court.
And while many viewers may be ‘dreamers’, Ms Creagh said the results also supported the rapid surge in demand for high-end property.
“The luxury market has done really well,” Ms Creagh explained. “The number of suburbs in the $3 million club, so to speak, doubled again in 2021 after already doubling in 2020.”
She said soaring household wealth, increased savings, and record-low mortgage rates had allowed many buyers to take on more debt.
For others, stepping a virtual foot inside properties beyond their financial reach was a temptation they couldn’t resist.
“There’s a fascination in getting behind the doors of these mega mansions,” Ms Creagh said.
“For the majority of people, it’s not just that you are never going to be able to afford one of those homes, but you may rarely get the opportunity to step inside one.
“With these listings the opportunity to get one foot in the door is certainly drawing views.”
Top five most viewed properties
Nationally, the most-viewed property listings of the past year all fell into the premium property basket with sprawling gardens, lots of bedrooms and features such as a pool, home theatre, gym and tennis court.
1. 74 Bacton Road, Chandler, QLD
Australia’s most viewed property listing of the past year was 74 Bacton Rd in the south east Brisbane suburb of Chandler, and with a features list this long – it’s not hard to see why.
Set over 10,000 sqm of land, the property boasts a 35-car garage, six-bedroom main residence, a separate guesthouse, a games arcade, two gyms, two spas, four offices, two cinemas, five storerooms, a resort-style pool, a commercial bar, a 3D golf simulator, a soccer field and a championship-sized tennis court.
So far, the listing has notched up almost 120,000 views on realestate.com.au.
According to lead agent Heath Williams from Place, New Farm, it also looks set to take the title as Brisbane’s most expensive home.
“We have multiple offers. We are currently in the very final stages of the negotiation at the moment,” Mr Williams said.
Brisbane’s current price record sits at $18.48 million, which was set when a clifftop house in Kangaroo Point sold in 2017.
2. 60 Hopetoun Road, Toorak, Vic
High profile music promoter Michael Coppel’s Toorak mansion at 60 Hopetoun Rd recorded almost 100,000 views over the past 12 months, making it the second most-viewed property listing on realestate.com.au.
Selling for more than $30 million in October, the home features six-bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a nine-car basement garage, a wine cellar and a full-size tennis court.
The home was reportedly snapped up by a wealthy local family.
3. 325 Woolooware Road, Burraneer, NSW
With rumours Hollywood movie star Chris Hemsworth and wife Elsa Pataky inspected this palatial trophy home in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, it’s no surprise the sprawling mansion went viral.
Campaigned as one of Australia’s finest homes, the seven bedroom, 19 bathroom home (yes you read that correctly) was originally four adjoining homes, before entrepreneur Steve Shelley spent a reported $30 million to build the masterpiece.
It has six kitchens, a theatre, wine tasting room, bowling alley, an archery range, a 20-car garage, swimming pool, private beach and marina.
The property recorded almost 100,000 views over the past year.
4. 178-180 Old Mount Barker Road, Aldgate, SA
In fourth place was this South Australian chateau owned by local wine baron Warren Randall, who previously described the property as “your own castle in the Adelaide Hills.”
Its unique design and epic entertaining spaces attracted 84,000 listing views.
Selling agent Stephanie Williams, principal at Williams Real Estate, said the property gained significant interest from all around the world.
“It’s the significant architecture there that really is the standout,” Ms Williams said.
“It certainly is a statement in architecture but also a statement for Australia. You just don’t find something like that every day.”
Ms Williams said the property sold for a suburb record, although would not disclose the price.
She said the new owners were local to the area, which is just 20 minutes from the Adelaide CBD.
5. 47 Lansell Road, Toorak, Vic
Rounding out the top five most-viewed listings nationally was another dream home in Toorak, which was bought by Chemist Warehouse boss Sam Gance for about $43 million in October.
Set over 3330 sqm, the five bedroom home includes three kitchens, a swimming pool, cinema, gym, tennis court and an on-site wellness retreat.
The property clocked up almost 73,000 property views on realestate.com.au.
Suburbs with the most views
For individual listings, viewers were largely drawn to homes with serious wow-factor, but the trend was also seen on a suburb level.
Over the past year, the suburbs with the highest number of average views per listing were largely blue-chip, wealthy areas with big, beautiful homes on large blocks.
Melbourne’s exclusive waterside suburb of Middle Park recorded the highest number of views per listing, as buyers sought lifestyle and space during the pandemic.
Local real estate agent Nicholas Hoo, director of Marshall White in Port Phillip said the suburb had recorded several sales above $5 million over the past 12 months.
“Because it’s so tightly held, generally when something comes up for sale that is some significant size, it is well inspected,” Mr Hoo said.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” he added, “they’re getting the lifestyle that they would want if they were down the beach, down (Mornington) Peninsula way for example, but they’re still close to town.”
Ms Creagh said the pandemic had driven demand in lifestyle locations as people spent more time at home.
“For many, more time spent at home, a continuation of remote work trends, space and lifestyle have become a much more important consideration,” she said.
“We’ve certainly seen that an ongoing driver of activity since the onset of the pandemic has been a shift in lifestyle preferences, and this shift toward larger homes, homes in the outer suburbs, bigger block sizes and homes in regional Australia and coastal locations as well.”
Waterside suburbs in Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsular drew plenty of interest over the past year, with Blairgowrie, Portsea and Sorrento making the top ten list, along with Bellerive in Hobart and Sydney’s Putney, Burraneer, and Grays Point.
The weird and the wonderful
Dream homes will always attract plenty of attention, but there are many reasons a property listing may go viral – whether it’s a famous owner, a property that’s captured news headlines, or perhaps some very bold design choices.
Take Western Australia’s most-viewed home of the past year, an opulent retro mansion that can only be described as iconic.
Selling agent Jos Welsh of Professionals Belmont said the heritage listed residence has created a lot of buzz since it hit the market.
“I think it would suit someone who is looking to live in an iconic home and you can make it still your own in the inside by renovation or expansion on the outside.”
“It’s a very unique iconic home but it’s not going to suit everybody either,” Mr Welsh said.
Featuring four bedrooms, a sprawling marble veranda, bejewelled staircase, mirror ball columns and an array of Venetian glass chandeliers, the home has recorded more than 71,000 listing views so far.
But it’s not only the bold and the beautiful homes making the list, with some rather humble abodes also attracting plenty of attention.
In the nation’s capital, the most viewed property of the past 12 months was a three bedroom townhouse in Campbell near Canberra’s CBD, followed by a modest three bedroom house in Bruce.
A ‘neat and tidy’ weatherboard home in south east Tasmania attracted more than 26,000 property views before selling for $555,000 in September.
In this case, it was clearly all about location, location, location, with the modest home set on a 1019sqm block with uninterrupted water views.
Ms Creagh said those lifestyle factors would continue to be driver of buyer interest moving forward.
“We’ve seen that that’s been a key feature of demand trends since the onset of the pandemic really, the increased desirability of lifestyle and amenity rich regions,” she said.
