Sydney had more US$10m sales than London in the last three months of 2025.
Sydney has become the darling of the world’s rich, with new analysis of global transactions revealing it now rivals New York, and has eclipsed London, as a destination for wealthy property buyers.
The Knight Frank research showed Sydney recorded 52 residential property transactions with a value above US$10m in the last quarter of 2025 – a 58 per cent surge on the previous three months.
This volume of ultra-pricey property sales put the Harbour City ahead of traditional richlister playgrounds such as Miami, Paris, Singapore and London.
Sydney’s count of sales above US$10m ($14m) was fifth highest among the world cities in the report and was only marginally behind New York, which had five more prestige sales than the NSW capital.
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Top of the list was Dubai and Hong Kong. They were followed by Los Angeles, home to mansion strewn suburbs such as Beverly Hills, where many of Hollywood’s rich and famous reside.
Quarterly spending on Sydney super prime properties totalled $1.3bn, according to Knight Frank’s Global Super-Prime Intelligence report. Close to $3.3bn in super-prime stock changed hands over 2025 as a whole,
Sydney’s top sale over 2025 was the $82.5m paid for a house on Tivoli Ave in Rose Bay. An executive apartment in Barangaroo was second highest at about $80m.
The surge in high-end activity indicated Sydney has firmly established itself as a “safe haven” for global capital, particularly as other markets grapple with policy uncertainty.
The report noted that London’s decline was driven by debates over wealth and property taxation, which weighed on sentiment.
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Sydney had close to the same number of super prime real estate sales as New York City.
Sydney’s market, by contrast, was driven by fundamental supply and demand mechanics.
Adam Ross, head of international and private clients at McGrath, Knight Frank’s partner in Australia, described the quarter as a “busy time”.
The majority of the super-prime action was concentrated in Sydney’s prestigious eastern suburbs, he said.
The lower north shore was also booming, with Mr Ross noting that price records in Mosman were “reset on a number of occasions”.
“Lack of supply and strong demand at the top end continue to drive resilient activity,” Mr Ross said.
He added that Sydney’s top tier market had been insulated from broader economic headwinds across other parts of the world.
Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, noted that Sydney posted one of the quarter’s “strongest rebounds”.
Sydney’s top sale of 2025 was the $82.5m paid for a home in Rose Bay.
Uig Lodge in Point Piper remains one of Sydney’s priciest homes. It last sold for $130m in 2022.
The rebound mirrored a broader “Australian housing resilience at the upper end of the market,” Mr Bailey said.
By contrast, London’s momentum was stalled by ongoing debates over UK wealth and property taxation, which spooked buyer sentiment.
Ray White Double Bay principal Elliott Placks, who made five of Sydney’s top 20 sales last year, told The Daily Telegraph that there was a deep pool of buyers for the most exclusive properties.
“I’m aware of at least 15 buyers with budgets of more than $50m to spend on luxury properties,” he said.
Sydney’s growing appeal for the world’s wealthiest buyers has come amid crippling affordability challenges in the rest of the market, with interest rate rises this week set to hamper new buyers even further.
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