A record number of Australians plan to downsize to boost their retirement funds, according to new research, potentially unlocking more than 33,000 homes over the next five years.

According to national survey conducted by leading property developer Capital Corporation, 56 per cent of downsizers intend to move to a smaller home to free up money for their retirement and reduce housing costs by 2030.

One in four (23 per cent) of those surveyed said planned to scale down to a property within the same price bracket as their current home, with one in six (16 per cent) Australian downsizers expecting to spend between $1m to $2m on their downsized property.

This coincides with the current Sydney median house price of $1.6m.

The research supports a growing trend that Capital Corporation has observed in its new luxury apartment development, The Residences at Wahroonga Estate, with an influx of empty nesters purchasing the two and three-bedroom residences.

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Concept image of The Residences at Wahroonga Estate

The luxury apartment project – estimated to be completed by 2027 – will include 186 homes, new roads, landscaping, and amenities.

Capital Corporation Director, Jim Hunter said the majority of The Residences’ buyers were looking for a “house-like” experience on the upper north shore, trading in a large family home for a lower maintenance lifestyle, security and the freedom to travel.

“It’s clear that many of our buyers are empty nesters living on the upper north shore seeking to improving their quality of life by downsizing from their family home,” he said.

“By enhancing the quality of finishes, providing generous garden amenities, and designing the apartments to feel more like homes, people have gained the confidence to downsize without feeling like they are downgrading in any way.”

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The new apartment project will provide 186 new homes.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, people aged 65 and over make up 17 per cent of the total Australian population.

This figure is set to grow to around 23 per cent by 2063.

With Australia’s population ageing rapidly, the demand for smaller, low maintenance dwellings is on the rise.

Mr Hunter said Capital Corporation’s research showed that many older Australians still face significant housing costs, with 30 per cent of downsizers still paying a mortgage on their current home.

The survey found 40 per cent of respondents in NSW and the ACT wanted to downsize to an apartment and 39 per cent of Baby Boomers nationally (aged 65 years or over) hoped to relocate to a two-or three-bedroom apartment.

Radical plan to remove Boomers

The housing crisis has now also emerged as a cornerstone of the federal election campaign, sparking calls for reforms by the Retirement Living Council (RLC) to unlock 59,576 homes across Australia.

In a recent report, the RLC urges the removal of financial barriers in order to encourage older Australians to ‘rightsize’ and create much-needed housing opportunities for younger families.

According to the Removing Rightsizing Roadblocks report, reforms to the Age Pension assets test and Commonwealth Rent Assistance eligibility could encourage an additional 94,000 seniors to access retirement village housing options by ensuring they are not financially penalised for doing so.

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Daniel Gannon, executive director of the Retirement Living Council.

RLC executive Daniel Gannon said these changes could lead to significant outcomes, including reducing the costs and demand on public housing, hospitals and aged care, while generating $2.95b in stamp duty revenue for state governments.

“Prehistoric policies are locking older Australians in large family homes during a housing crisis when rightsizing initiatives should be front and centre to ease pressure on housing and healthcare systems,” he said.

“It’s absurd that policies written decades ago are expected to keep up with modern day house prices and cost of living. Older Australians risk losing their pension while younger people are in housing limbo.”

Read more on the subject here.

Surprise results of Boomers’ empty houses poll

A social poll asking whether a tax break will help around 60,000 Baby Boomers “rattling around” in large empty houses move on to better digs has had some surprising results.

Born after World War II to the mid 1960s, Baby Boomers have become the wealthiest generation on the planet thanks in large part to astronomical escalation in property prices, and around 60,000 are estimated to be living in homes too large for their needs that they cannot take care of without help – which prompted the question of whether a tax break might help make that decision easier.

The feedback to a social media survey conducted by News Corp came thick and fast.

Around 45 per cent of 1117 people who responded were a clear no on the question of a tax break to move on, 36 per cent were a clear yes, 13 per cent laughed, 5 per cent expressed anger and the rest loved it.

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There are government schemes to help older Aussies stay in their homes as long as they wish, paying for lawnmoving and other help.

Respondent Rachael Hickey commented: “This is ridiculous. People shouldn’t feel like they have to give up their homes they worked hard for” – a view supported by Ruth Griffin who said “their homes were purchased with interest of 18 per cent for a loan. You had to work and save for most, not rely on government”.

There were also calls to look at other options including one by Lamgwynn McLeod saying “stop large scale investment buying! Limit purchasing of Australian properties to Australian citizens! Limit how many investment properties someone can own!”

Read the fully story here.

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The penthouse in the luxury St Moritz building is for sale.

Media and real estate guru Antony Catalano is selling his $36m penthouse in a St Kilda tower of power where other homes have been linked to Shane Warne and Sam Newman.

Mr Catalano bought the penthouse off the plan from high-profile developer Tim Gurner for $30m in what had been a record apartment purchase for Melbourne in 2019.

But after about two years living in the home at the top of the Saint Moritz development, he and wife Stefanie are selling it for $33m-$36m — enough to set the suburb’s home price record, again.

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Mr Catalano is the former boss of the Domain real estate group and currently executive chairman at View Media Group as well as Australian Community Media.

He is also the owner of the popular venue Raes on Wategos in Byron Bay, where he bought a $9m home in 2023 and is reportedly seeking to build a $55m mansion.

Anthony Catalano at the Portsea Polo. Picture: Nicki Connolly

The huge living room with floor-to-ceiling windows.

One of the home’s six bedrooms.

Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello and John Bongiorno are handling the penthouse sale at Saint Moritz, developed on the site of the former Novotel hotel and Saint Moritz ice skating rink on The Esplanade in St Kilda.

The sprawling 700sq m property is set over two levels with views that take in the bay and Melbourne’s CBD.

There are soaring voids above some of the home’s living areas, a 175sq m outdoor terrace, a private pool looking towards the city skyline, and basement carparking for eight to 14 vehicles.

The home is in immaculate condition.

The rooftop pool has city views.

The marble kitchen/

There are six bedrooms, all with ensuites, including a main with a gas log fireplace and marble ensuite.

Mr Chiminello said the unparalleled apartment would appeal to a mix of more established buyers looking for a Melbourne base, or a young and newly wealthy entrepreneur coming out of the tech world.

It’s also possible it will be someone flying in from overseas, or who owns offshore businesses.

Antony Catalano with his wife Stefanie at Oaks day at Flemington Racecourse in 2018. Picture: Aaron Francis/The Australian

Sam Newman also owned a property in the building.

… as did Shane Warne.

The agent noted that with the Australian dollar down against most major currencies in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s tariff moves in the US, there was a building international interest in Melbourne which had long had global appeal and now had global value.

“Compared to a couple of weeks ago they are getting a discount, based on the exchange rate,” Mr Chiminello said.

“Those buyers are driven by product, not by location, and this will be hard to find in any other building.

“This is the first time something like this has been sold as a finished product.”

A closer look at the kitchen.

A theatre/living room.

However, while the next owner could be new money, the agent said it was good to see that even the luxury future of Saint Moritz was still paying homage to the suburb’s past by retaining the name of the ice skating rink that used to stand at the site.

Saint Moritz apartments also have access to the building’s amenities, including a 25m lap pool, valet parking and a concierge, as well as an in-house anti-ageing and wellness retreat with a mix of cryotherapy, salt rooms, saunas and plunge pools available.

The building’s residents and guests are also welcomed via either a luxury hotel-style valet carpark, or via a glass cube modelled on tech company Apple’s famous New York flagship store.

Space to dine with you and 13 friends.

The views from the penthouse look straight out to the St Kilda foreshore.

When the complex’s apartments were being sold off the plan, famous faces that committed to purchases included AFL great Sam Newman and Test cricket legend the late Shane Warne — though Warne’s family had his acquisition on-sold privately after his passing in 2022.

Mr Catalano also sold a nearby house in St Kilda West house for $15.5m in 2022.

Expressions of interest for the property are being sought.

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Although the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received fewer complaints in 2024 than in 2023, financial losses were up 33% annually to $16.6 billion, according to its annual report published Wednesday. 

In total, IC3 received 859,531 complaints in 2024, down from 880,418 complaints in 2023. Of the nearly 860,000 complaints, roughly 256,000 resulted in actual losses. The average loss was $19,372, up from $14,197 a year ago. 

These rising financial losses are even more concerning as “the FBI took significant actions to make it harder, and more costly, for malicious actors to succeed” in 2024, according to the report. These efforts included disbanding fraud and laundering syndicates, shutting down scam call centers, dissolving “botnets” and putting hundreds of bad actors behind bars.

Americans 60 and older lodged the most complaints of any age group at 147,127 complaints, totaling $4.8 billion in losses, also the most of any age group.

The most common type of complaint were phishing or spoofing scams, with 193,407 related complaints. Ransomware accounted for 3,156 complaints and business email compromise (BEC) — which is the genesis for most wire fraud attempts — accounted for 21,442 complaints, essentially unchanged from a year prior. 

Despite ranking as only the seventh most common complaint, BEC took the No. 2 spot for most losses, with these incidents resulting in $2.77 billion in losses in 2024, down roughly $2 million from 2023. 

Indicative of this is that wire transfers or ACH transfers were the second most common way in which funds were lost. 

In the ongoing battle between those in fraud prevention, fraudsters are constantly looking for new ways to scam victims.

Last week, the FBI issued a public service announcement warning the public that criminal scammers have started to impersonate IC3 employees. According to the announcement, between December 2023 and February 2025, the FBI received more than 100 reports of IC3 impersonation scams. 

The IC3 noted that it will never directly communicate with individuals and if further information is needed, individuals will be contacted by FBI employees from local field offices or other law enforcement officers. The IC3 said it will never ask for payment to recover lost funds.

Newtown Brae, an grand 1851 residence at 15 Stephen St, Newtown, is selling with $6.5m to $6.95m price hopes.

A grand Victorian mansion considered one of Geelong’s most significant early homes has hit the market for the first time in 20 years.

The downsizing owner of Newtown Brae is selling the extraordinary four-bedroom house originally built for former convict turned prominent publican Joseph Lewis at 15 Stephen St, Newtown.

The front cottage was constructed in 1851, making it one of the city’s oldest surviving homes, with the substantial two-storey Italianate extension designed by notable architect Alexander Hamilton added in 1885.

The formal dining room has north-facing views.

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It occupies an elevated 3407sq m block with treetop views across Geelong, the You Yangs and the bay.

Kay & Burton agent Peter Kudelka has set price hopes from $6.5m to $6.95m for the property, calling for expressions of interest by May 27.

If it achieves this price, the landmark home would eclipse the suburb record set by fellow 19th century mansion Raith.

Mr Kudelka said he expected strong interest in the “trophy property” as so few of similar calibre existed.

“It was built in 1851 and renovated and extended in 1885 by a guy called Alexander Hamilton who is quite famous in the area,” he said.

“It has been in this family for 20 years and they are just at the stage now where they are scaling down.”

The original three-room cottage dates back to 1851.

The formal lounge has a marble fireplace and crystal chandelier.

The wide rear balcony has treetop views over Geelong.

He said the owners had made sympathetic improvements to the heritage-listed home but there was still scope for new owners to make further changes internally.

“They added the front veranda in the early stages and they have just done some renovation work internally to bring it up to speed,” he said.

“Downstairs, for example, could be fully self-contained. It’s got a little kitchenette, a bedroom and a living room so it gives you that flexibility but it’s actually a comfortable family home.”

The bluestone lower level is also home to a library and a rustic cellar, a stark contrast from the stately reception rooms upstairs which display original decorative features such as marble fireplaces, ceiling roses, plasterwork and crystal chandeliers.

The modern kitchen and meals area flows out to the wraparound balcony.

The downstairs living area also has a decorative fireplace.

Mr Kudelka said two old posts on the expansive back lawn once held the net for a tennis court that could be reinstated.

Newtown Brae’s original owner Joseph Lewis was transported to Van Diemen’s Land for counterfeit offences and later became a successful publican in Geelong at the Shearer’s Arms, Royal Mail and Victoria hotels.

When he advertised the three-bedroom cottage, then known as Woolmers, for rent in 1852, it was set on 1.6ha of garden with 400 fruit trees, vines and a gardener’s house.

The Victorian Heritage Database citation shows Western District grazier James Alexander acquired the property in 1884, changing its name and engaging Colac architect Alexander Hamilton to extend it.

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