Apartment sets new record for Australia’s most expensive home

A cool $140 million is how much you would need to purchase Australia’s most expensive piece of real estate. 

The unfinished luxurious penthouse suite, along with a sub-penthouse, sitting atop the glistening One Sydney Harbour development in the New South Wales capital, sold off-the-plan to a local buyer this weekend.

The mystery buyer is expected to make their home in the two-storey penthouse, which also broke the $100,000 per square metre barrier, while the additional floor will be used as separate living quarters.

The new residence, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, will have unrivalled views of Sydney Harbour, neighbouring Darling Harbour and stretching all the way to the Blue Mountains in the horizon.

What else will this unnamed purchaser be getting for their money? Well, he or she can invite lots of guests to stay the night with a total of nine bedrooms in the property. There are also large eight-metre high ceilings, a private rooftop pool, spa, and a gym.

The sale shattered the record for most expensive home previously held by Fairwater — a 1.12 hectare Port Piper estate purchased by tech billionaire Mike Cannon Brookes for close to $100 million in September 2018.

Lendlease admits it was overwhelmed with the response to the One Sydney Harbour project, which has had more than $1 billion in sales.

"The sale of the penthouse at One Sydney Harbour is a paradigm shift for the Australian property market with an apartment claiming the title of Australia's most valuable residential property for the first time, a title historically reserved for significant houses,” said Kylie Rampa, Lendlease's CEO of Property.

"The record-breaking penthouse sale is confirmation that the Barangaroo South precinct is a world-leading location where people aspire to live, work and visit.”

Australia still has some way to go to match the most expensive property sales in the world though. Earlier this year, billionaire Ken Griffin set a new record for the costliest home ever sold in America, purchasing a luxurious New York City penthouse for $238 million USD (around $347 million AUD), according to the Wall Street Journal. 

The 24,000 square foot apartment, located on Central Park, is housed inside a massive new building, consisting of an 18-storey “Chalet,” facing the street, as well as a 79-story tower. Inside will be numerous luxury amenities including private dining rooms, a juice bar, a golf simulator, and a basketball court.

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(Image credit: Lendlease)