Homebuyers hunting for a suburb with bright growth prospects are flushed with choice as Hobart prepares for its next pricing cycle uptick.

A national report from Hotspotting shows 60 per cent of the southernmost capital city’s suburbs achieved a positive classification from the property analysis company’s new Price Predictor Index.

The report analysed over 40 suburbs in the south, house and unit markets, and found 17 areas made the A+ ranking of being a Rising market.

Across all of Tasmania, there were dozens of similarly strong suburbs.

Hotspotting managing director, Terry Ryder, said Eastern Shore suburb Howrah was an example of an area likely to have a price increase.

He said it has recorded an increasing number of sales, quarter by quarter, over the past 18 months, from 23 sales to 35, 36, 38, 40 and 43.

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With Hobart also home to the nation’s lowest vacancy rate, according to recent SQM Research data, Mr Ryder said it was likely investors would target more affordable suburbs with expectations rental yields could rise.

“Potentially, this is very good news for Howrah, where neighbouring areas — Tranmere and Bellerive — are pricier,” he said.

Among the Rising suburbs, there was a mix of greater Hobart’s most expensive and affordable areas, from Lauderdale and West Hobart, where the median house prices are $745,898 and $861,293, to Midway Point at $615,000 or Primrose Sands at $477,500.

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Once sales volumes begin rising in an area, Mr Ryder said prices often followed within six to nine months.

He said many areas on his top performers list were just starting to see growth now, but that it would kick on for a while yet — giving would-be buyers a short window to make a move. “What typically happens is that people won’t get active until they read that there’s a boom happening,” Mr Ryder said. “But by then, they are missing the opportunity.”

Real Estate Institute of Tasmania president Russell Yaxley described the Hobart property market as “improving” with confidence coming back.

“Now the interest rates have stabilised, and multiple reductions possible, now is the perfect time to purchase before prices are tipped to improve further,” he said.

“This report confirms what agents are seeing and feeling in the market.”

Mr Ryder said a common trend that emerges again and again is “affordability rules”.

He said areas that were quite down-market are often stigmatised.

“If people can get basic services, transport and shops, so long as it’s affordable, people will buy there or rent there, so the weight of demand always goes to those affordable areas,” he said.

Mr Ryder said Hobart, as well as Launceston, were getting a “second wind” after the boom of five years ago when Tasmania’s relative affordability to the mainland began drawing investors. With prices having dropped back a little, Tasmania is poised to see buyers regain their appreciation for the value that is on offer.

“It’s an area that has had a burst of growth and then flatlined for a number of years, which is quite normal,” he said.

“And now, having caught its breath, it’s about ready to take off again on another sprint.” When investors make their decisions, price is a driver but not the only factor, Mr Yaxley said.

“They will consider the stability of rental income, infrastructure and future growth and opportunities in a particular suburb,” he said.

“It is a good time to be investing in a number of suburbs in our market.”

HOBART ON THE RISE

Houses

Austins Ferry, Blackmans Bay, Cygnet, Howrah, Kingston, Lauderdale, Midway Point, New Town, North Hobart, Primrose Sands, Risdon Vale, Sorell

Units

Bellerive, Claremont, Glenorchy, Lenah Valley, Moonah

Source: Price Predictor Index

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They don’t just buy houses — they buy streets.

In Sydney’s most elite suburbs, the rich and powerful are quietly waging war on their neighbours – not with lawsuits or hedge disputes, but with money.

From Vaucluse to the northern beaches, the city’s cashed-up elite have been snapping up neighbouring properties and bulldozing the boundaries to build private compounds fit for royalty.

Forget white picket fences and friendly chats over the driveway: these are sprawling estates with security gates, private tennis courts, and enough manicured lawn to host a small footy match.

Those who have done it range from former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull through to billionaire Harry Triguboff, actor Russell Crowe and many more.

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Among the latest compound builders were the owners of apparel brand White Fox, who in April snapped up their fifth property in Vaucluse as part of plans to build a “super compound”.

Some of the biggest waterfront compounds are now worth more than $200m.

Sotheby’s Sydney director Michael Pallier, one of the top agents in Vaucluse, said the trend has been picking up in recent years because the city’s elite have more money.

“Buying up the neighbours is nothing new but people haven’t always had the money to do it in the eastern suburbs. That’s changed,” Mr Pallier said.

“The rich have much more money than they used to and thanks to the internet and other advances they are able to make their money much faster. The level of wealth is just so far beyond anything we had before.”

Mr Pallier added that wealthy homeowners wanting to swallow up neighbouring properties were often the biggest spenders in some enclaves – especially waterfront areas.

“In the last two years, the neighbours are often the best buyers on properties … sometimes they want their block to go from the street to the waterfront or they want a bigger garden.

“There’s lots of reasons to do it. But basically it comes down to, if you’ve got the money to do it, why not?”

WHITE FOX OWNERS

Owners of the online fashion brand White Fox have been reported to be planning a “super compound” after a $150m buying spree.

Daniel Contos, 34, and Georgia Moore, 33, last month bought their fifth property in exclusive Vaucluse, records show, with four of them neighbouring properties set to form a huge 4000 sqm compound.

One of the blocks was recently snapped up for circa $30m. The block adjoins properties they’ve acquired over the past four years for $34.5m, $25m, and $36m.

The compound is separate from an investment property snapped up by the couple on nearby Wentworth Rd for $25m in 2023.

MIKE CANNON BROOKES

Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and then wife Annie spent $14.25m in 2023 to buy a property neighbouring their Newport getaway.

The property was adjacent to the designer home the Cannon-Brookes family bought in 2020 for $24.5m after its construction by model Jennifer Hawkins and partner Jake Wall.

The neighbouring property was set on 3000 sqm and came with an approved 1000 sqm netted bathing area.

The billionaire Atlassian boss famously set an Australia price record when bought harbourside estate Fairwater for $100m in 2018.

MENULOG FOUNDER

Menulog founder Leon Kamenev bought an amalgamated site in Vaucluse of four separate properties for $80m in 2016. He lodged plans for a luxury home a year later.

After numerous pushbacks by council, the home was eventually completed shortly after the Covid pandemic for a reported build cost of $30m. It’s estimated to now be worth about $200m.

PACKER FAMILY

The Packer family wrote the playbook on building residential compounds.

Their Bellevue Hill fortress Cairnton has been stitched together over generations, beginning with the late Sir Frank Packer’s £7500 buy in 1935.

Since then, five more titles were added in the 1960s, and Kerry Packer followed up with another four in the late 1980s and 1990s, shelling out more than $8.4m to build the empire.

The Packer family transferred ownership of the estate in early 2024 to a private holding company owned by the Packer family, with the value on official title records lodged at a conservative $105m.

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James Packer took the same approach to building his former Vaucluse home shared with then wife Erica.

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They bought the main part of the property in 2009 for $18m and added to neighbouring blocks for $12.5m to create a mega mansion known as La Mer. It sold in 2015 for a then Australian record price of $70m.

RUSSELL CROWE

Russell Crowe owns an expansive rural estate in Nana Glen, a village about 25km northwest of Coffs Harbour.

He began acquiring land in the area in 1999 and, over the years, expanded his holdings by purchasing adjacent properties.

By 2013, his estate encompassed over 800 acres and included multiple residences, cabins, a farm cottage, a private wedding chapel, a cricket oval, and more than 700 black angus cattle.

HARRY TRIGUBOFF

Property tycoon Harry Triguboff, head of Meriton, has one of the biggest eastern suburbs compounds.

Mr Triguboff has quietly stitched together multiple waterfront blocks in Vaucluse to create a private enclave.

The billionaire, with wife Rhonda, bought their main home in 1984 for $4.1m and snapped up the house next door for $6m in 1996.

An industry insider said waterfront land in Vaucluse typically sold for 50,000 a sqm. This would mean Triguboff’s 5200 sqm block would be worth over $250m.

“It’s more likely you’d get that value from subdividing as there would be very few people who could pay that kind of money alone,” the source said.

MALCOLM TURNBULL

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and wife Lucy made some clever plays to expand their landholding in Point Piper.

They bought what was then a beachfront residence known as Le Gai Soleil in 1994 for $5,425,000 and then purchased the adjoining property for $7.1m in 1999.

This allowed them to carve some 600 sqm off that title to expand their waterfrontage. The remaining property was then redeveloped into a duplex and sold off in 2011 for $13.6m.

Agents familiar with the property estimated the amalgamated block could be worth over $100m and even be as high as $150m.

WESTFIELD SCION’S RETREAT

Steven Lowy, son of Westfield kingpin Frank Lowy, has pieced together a beachfront compound with wife Judy over three decades.

The Lowys bought their original beachfront block in Watsons Bay for $2.5m in 1991.

They then snapped up a neighbouring 1000 sqm block for $9m in 2009. Their latest purchase came in 2017 when a 525 sqm beachfront block was added for $14.2m. The latest acquisition took their adjoining beachfront total to 2590 sqm.

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Melbourne’s auction market has been tipped to heat up as it heads towards winter after a long-weekend spree and federal election put it on ice for the past few weeks.

Yesterday, PropTrack data shows 67 per cent of homes sold at, just before or after auction, based on 452 reported results.

However, senior economist Anne Flaherty said there were signs buyers were “biding their time” and waiting for this weekend’s election result before they made a move — particularly first-home buyers.

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Latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows there were 10,334 home loans issued to Victorian first-home buyers in the final three months of 2024 — the highest figure since 2021.

They are one of the biggest forces in the state’s housing market, and them pulling back helps to explain a clearance rate that sank to just 60 per cent last week, compared to the 64 per cent of homes selling at auction prior to a 0.25 per cent interest rate cut in February.

Ms Flaherty said sellers were also likely to be waiting for a better understanding of which party’s policies would be implemented, and how that could impact the market.

But with expectations of interest rate cuts ahead likely to boost housing market conditions, the economist said there could be a lift in activity this year instead of the traditional cool off in sales volumes heading into winter.

Ms Flaherty said while home seller sentiment in Victoria had been the lowest in the nation in October last year, a rising list of positives for the market could break the tradition.

“And some owners will choose to sell because of that,” she said.

“So, compared to the traditional winter period, we could see activity pick up a little.”

Coupled with interest rates falling, Ms Flaherty has suggested home prices are likely to continue to rise in Melbourne this winter after a buoyant start to 2025 that has made the Victorian capital the nation’s second best performing housing market so far this year.

As Australia went to the polls this week there were 722 homes scheduled to go under the hammer across Melbourne, the highest figure in a three week span during which numbers fell as low as 144 in the lead up to Easter.

Next week that number is forecast to jump to 866, and by mid May it’s expected to be just shy of 900.

Among the homes scoring the best results yesterday were a three-bedroom home at 2/25 The Strand, Williamstown, that sold for$4.15m, and a three-bedroom house at 446 Balwyn Rd, Balwyn North, which collected $2m at auction.

A $1.7m sale for a four-bedroom house at 7 Hudson Court, Ashburton, was the third strongest result for the day, according to PropTrack.

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Queenslanders have made some of the quirkiest things into homes and one prominent architecture expert reckons this ingenuity may just help the next generation of homebuyers during the housing crisis.

Throughout the Sunshine State people are living in planes, trains, space station-like bubbles, war bunkers and even a Barbie dream house, with their creations driven by budget constraints, inventiveness and a desire to standout.

But where some may view these quirky residences as oversized curios, Grand Designs Australia and Restoration Australia host Anthony Burke sees them as the work of trailblazers.

The professor of architecture said experimenting with home designs could lead to more affordable homes for Australians.

“We’re going to have to invent our way out of this (housing) problem,” he said.

“Australia is very risk adverse when it comes to our houses and that hasn’t budged much since the 1950s

“We need Australians to engage with a bit more risk-taking with our architecture.

“And while (quirky homes) aren’t necessarily the answer to the housing crisis, they are a good step towards breaking us out of business as usual.”

Mr Burke said he was seeing an increase in Australians willing to experiment with home building and renovation, particularly younger people.

“There’s a new generation of Australians who can’t afford a new home,” he said.

“They are the group that is going to reinvent what a house looks like because they can’t afford a house like it has looked for the past 70 years.

“(Quirky homes) are necessary to change our thinking.

“I think we’re going to see more of them is the next 20 years, the way we haven’t in the past 40 years.”

Buyer’s agent and managing director of Cohen Handler, Jordan Navybox said while “quirky” homes were once the purview of eccentrics, unique luxury homes were growing in popularity in South East Queensland.

“Prestige buyers do want a level of exclusivity and uniqueness,” he said.

“They want a home that is one-of-one.

“Brisbane is finally seeing this fashion and lifestyle movement and there are more architects pushing the boundaries in Brisbane.

“Rob Mills is a Melbourne architect doing a lot in Brisbane right now and so is Luigi Rosselli from Sydney.

“It’s super fashionable now to have a really beautiful and unique house and the more fashionable that becomes, the more boundary pushing we will see.”

Lynn Malone of Queensland Sotheby’s, who is selling ‘Alkira’, a futuristic concrete residence built above a lake in Cape Tribulation, said it was more difficult to sell a quirky home but the trick was to know the buyers to target.

“Buyers’ reactions are often polarised — some are captivated by the unexpected and folly, while others have concerns about comparable property sales and valuations,” she said.

“The objective is to identify and reach the niche audience that aspires to acquire a property such as ‘Alkira Resort House’ and has the financial capability to purchase.

“Too much uniqueness, such as a remote location in Far North Queensland, can be a drawback for a traditional buyer.

“However, most prospective buyers for ‘Alkira’ view remoteness, privacy, and exclusivity as compelling attributes.”

Ms Malone said truly unique homes attracted strong interest when they hit the market.

“The challenge lies in translating that tremendous interest into genuine buyer inquiries,” she said.

Ms Malone said she had seen an increase in buyers willing to consider more quirky homes.

“Especially in the luxury real estate sector, buyers seek properties that offer authenticity, design innovation, and a connection with nature, particularly when buying a second or third residence,” she said.

Mr Burke said in general, owners of quirky homes could be broken down into two groups – those looking to experiment and those looking to express their personality.

“Some are inventions by necessity, such as inhabiting a train carriage because that’s all they could afford,” he said.

“Some, like the Bubble House (in Ipswich), are a labour of love and an experimental thesis.

“There’s also the really formally flamboyant house, which are more about puffing up and saying ‘I’m here, I’m doing something different’.

“It’s not an idea, it’s a power play.

“But the person with the lifelong thesis they’ve had in sustainable housing, that’s a labour of love and that comes from a strength of idea.”

Mr Burke said Aussies tended to appreciate the passion builds.

“There is an army of good taste cops out there that shake their but most people see something usual like the Bubble house and say ‘good on you for having a crack’,” he said.

“Australians, we love the underdog, the renegade, the brave eccentric.”

Mr Burke said most who set out to build a unique home were the type to care little about the opinions of others.

“These are kind of places that stay in a family for as long as someone can live independently and, by that time, they’ve become landmarks,” he said.

“They become a bit precious, think mid-century Seidler homes and Robin Boyd homes.”

Mr Burke said he appreciated those homeowners, builders and architects ready to take the risk and do something outside the box.

“New materials, new technology, new processes – they will take a while to land in meaningful ways, but we need early adopters,” he said.

“Things like rammed earth are already coming back into play, which is good to see.”

Mr Burke said he hoped to see the experimentation occurring overseas start to influence Australians homeowners.

“They are 3D printing houses in Texas, mushroom houses grown and built out of mushroom are happening in the US and Europe, and we’re even seeing architectural structures made by silkworms.”

SOME OF QUEENSLAND’S QUIRKIEST HOMES

1. Bubble House – Karalee

Built by architect owner Graham Birchall, this home took a decade to complete and is made from 11 intersecting circular domes.

The house began as a thesis idea more than 40 years ago and ended up a 20-room family home with 1050 sqm of floor space.

2. Alkira Resort House – Cape Tribulation

This remote concrete masterpiece was designed by visionary architect Charles Wright and is positioned over a man-made lake and surrounded by 30ha of wilderness including a beach.

It took the original owner, stamp collector and property developer Rob Perry, five years to design and build the six bedroom, seven bathroom house.

The unusual swimming pool shape and surrounding roofline is based on the silhouette of the head on the ‘One Pound Jimmy’ postage stamp issued in Australia in the 1950s.

3. Barbie Dream House – Agnes Waters

This eye-catching home is spread across four levels with a party zone that includes a built-in bar, space for a pool table and guest bedrooms.

Like any good dream house, it has a bright colour scheme, a pool and plenty of space to entertain or just relax.

You can even see the ocean from the decks.

4. Train carriage home – Booie

Marketed as one of a kind and currently for sale, this 2.67ha property comes with a home created from a Melbourne train carriage.

The stainless steel carriage, measuring around 23m long and 2.9m wide, has a kitchen, dining, and lounge area, complete with original train handrails, a bathroom and a bedroom. There is also an added second bedroom and deck plus the block has a big shed and dam.

5. Silo house – Kairi

This two-bedroom, one bathroom home is built into the side of historic grain silos that were bought for just $5000 in 2010.

The home sits in what was originally the office and weigh station, but all the machinery from the silos has been kept on site.

The silos themselves are accessed from inside the home, with a door opening to the first two silos and a shaft that runs underneath all four.

6. Gill House – Norman Park

Designed to look like the gills of a shark, this modern riverside home is spread across four levels and has four bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Inside there is a 6.3m high void, marble-clad fireplace, a master suite that takes up an entire level, a round bathtub sitting under a skylight and a four-car stacker in the garage.

The property looks out over the Brisbane River and is currently for sale.

7. Chateau sur-Ciel – Willow Vale

The name of this Gold Coast property aptly translates to ‘castle in the sky’.

Designed and built over a period of ten years by the original owners, the home has medieval-themed games room, a moat, a chapel and horse stables.

The six-bedroom home was inspired by a love of European art and architecture.

8. Bunker house – Miles

The couple behind Possum Park Caravan Park, 20km north of Miles, turned a WWII bunker into their home after buying an abandoned air force base in 1986.

The 12m-long ammunition bunker, made from 10-inch thick concrete and covered with 1m of dirt, contains a bedroom, bathroom, office and open plan kitchen and living room.

The couple have also converted more bunkers, an army igloo, a plane and train carriages into guest accommodation.

9. Elysian Falls dome house – Flaxton

Artist Cath Wild designed and built this aircrete dome house on her property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

The four-dome structure is the first aircrete dome to have council build approval and covers just under 90 sqm.

Ms Wild made about 6000 aircrete blocks to complete the home and the build took about three years.

10. Renovated church – Innisfail

The former St Andrew’s Presbyterian Memorial Church in Innisfail isn’t your typical church – it was designed by architect Eddie Oribin in the modernist organic style of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Now converted to a private residence, the home has triangular brickwork, patterned screen walls with green glass inserts, tulip oak walls, polished timber floors, original diamond shaped leadlight windows, a burning tree motif and a copper flower bowl.

There are three levels with open plan living, dining and kitchen, and a bedroom on a mezzanine level.

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