It seems strangely appropriate that in the week in which the NSW state government presented a Bill to shake up planning laws, we learn about a $133m project on the Central Coast that was delayed by a council’s stubborn refusal to admit they’d erred, almost leading to the developer’s business collapse with debts of $22m.

That’s just one of the stories in this weeks property news feed from out friends at LeftField Communications.

Every weekday they send out a summary of all the latest stories that you can access online. We curate all the apartment-related stories but you can get the whole package – houses and commercial properties too – by zooming down to the end of this post and subscribing for free.

Thursday

Domain – Free

The best luxury properties for sale in Australia this week
When it comes to luxury property, these eight properties are an absolute standout and ready to be snapped up. Kate Farrelly and Mary O’Brien

ABC Online – Free

The Federal Home Guarantee Scheme is expanding, but just how many will be able to afford to buy in?
To try and keep pace with the nation’s soaring housing market, the federal government’s Home Loan Guarantee for first home buyers is being expanded from October 1 — but who can afford to buy in? Lexy Hamilton-Smith

Daily Telegraph

Gosford: How a sewer pipe and poor grammar nearly sunk the $133m twin tower Horizons project
This is the story of how a sewer pipe and poor grammar almost sank a $133m twin tower project on the Central Coast and bankrupted the developer. Richard Noone

Realestate.com.au – Free

September 2025 RBA rates decision hinges on one thing
Chances of a September interest rates cut by Australia’s Reserve Bank will hinge on the release of national employment figures tomorrow, experts say. David Campbell

Investors view Melbourne as ‘best place to buy’ despite recent selloff
Victoria has been ranked as the worst state to be a property investor for a second year straight, but that may be about to change as an overwhelming proportion see buying opportunities in Melbourne. Nina Hendy

The Courier Mail

Housing height limits to soar around Indooroopilly, Carindale shopping centres, Lord Mayor reveals
Council unveils plans to dramatically increase suburban building heights beyond 20 storeys as the city grapples with a booming population. Rachel Riley

Adelaide Advertiser

New plans revealed for $250m Forestville development
Developers have unveiled revised plans for the $250m housing project at the former Le Cornu site at Forestville ahead of the first apartment sales launch. Giuseppe Tauriello

The West Australian

Square Metres: Cygnet West steps into spring with $22m sale of St Georges Terrace tower
Office market supply tightening, interest rates falling, newspaper advertisements increasing and the listing of a major St Georges Terrace asset indicate confidence is on the rise. Kim Macdonald

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Finalists Announced for The Urban Developer’s Urban Leader Awards 2025
The Urban Developer has revealed the finalists for its second annual Urban Leader Awards, presented by Zagga, recognising the individuals driving change and shaping the future of Australia’s cities David Di Marco

Billbergia, Metrics Chase 46 Storeys in $400m Towers Uplift
A 5000-plus square metre site on Sydney’s Lower North Shore is cleared and work-ready—but a new evolution of the twin-tower project has been tabled. Vanessa Croll

Momentum for Brisbane Vertical Neighbourhoods Grows
The Brisbane City Council has unveiled the next phase of its strategic plan to bolster higher density residential development as it stares down the barrel of needing 210,800 new homes by 2046. Phil Bartsch and Taryn Paris

Kokoda Settles Teneriffe Banks as Melb Project Completes
Kokoda Property Group has settled its Teneriffe Banks site in Brisbane, paving the way for construction of the luxury riverfront precinct to begin. Leon Della Bosca

First Look: Hip V Hype Reveals Brunswick ‘Love Child’
Sustainability-led developer Hip V Hype has teamed with Melbourne architects Austin Maynard to create ParkLife 2 at Brunswick, and the project has won some serious backing. Taryn Paris

Apartments.com.au

Gamuda Land offers rare customisation at Fareham, St Kilda
The customisation of new apartments tends to be off the table once construction of the new building hits 70 per cent. Joel Robinson

Arena launches Bella Vie to undersupplied Main Beach apartment market
When Arena Property Group set out to create its flagship apartment development, the focus was on two key elements: location and design. Joel Robinson

View.com.au – Free

Regrets? I’ve had a few: Three mistakes I made as a first home buyer
Regrets? I’ve had a few. And some of them involve buying my first home. January Jones

Wednesday

The Australian Financial Review

Baz Luhrmann’s former Sydney mansion Iona sells for $37.5m
The grand Darlinghurst estate once owned by film director Baz Luhrmann and his Oscar-winning wife Catherine Martin has just sold for $37.5 million, 12 days after it was launched on the spring market, setting a record in the inner-east suburb of Sydney. Bonnie Campbell

Sydney Morning Herald

Meet the Sydneysiders who love living in high-density neighbourhoods
Residents living in some of Sydney’s highest-density areas say they like living in places with plenty of amenities and services, and think NIMBY locals in suburbs like Mosman and Woollahra could benefit from more apartment development and the facilities that often come with them. Sue Williams

The Sydney homes being knocked down, and the people keen to immortalise them
Former radio journalist Jason Smith documents Sydney homes slated for destruction to make way for townhouses, apartments or larger homes on his popular Instagram account, 1000housedrawings. Julie Power and Nigel Gladstone

The Brisbane Times

Work begins on new South Brisbane skyscraper
Construction has begun on what will be one of the tallest towers in South Brisbane — a 145-metre building of cylindrical forms at 10 Cordelia Street. William Davis

WA Today

Reclusive WA mining billionaire lists West Perth penthouse for sale
Reclusive mining billionaire Angela Bennett has listed her $15 million West Perth penthouse for sale, offering a rare insight into her private life. Heather McNeill

Domain – Free

Rare Woolloomooloo Wharf apartment seeks $4m in star-studded complex
A luxury apartment with an exclusive Sydney Harbour address has hit the market for the first time in more than a decade. Kate Kachor

Your private view from the top: Discover Phillip’s most exclusive penthouse
Apartment living doesn’t get better than life at the top — the penthouse. With dazzling views, luxurious surroundings, and a lifestyle that feels elevated yet remains connected to the city below, it’s unmatched. Laura Valic

Realestate.com.au – Free

RBA’s next interest rate move revealed by top economists
Australian borrowers are facing a nervous wait, with the Reserve Bank expected to hold interest rates steady in September before delivering another cut as a Christmas gift. Lydia Kellner

Hidden landlord costs that could bleed you dry
If home ownership is the great Australian dream then property investing must be the national sport, with many Aussies looking to property investing as an ideal way to build wealth over time. And let’s face it, the prospect of your tenants paying off a decent chunk of your mortgage each month as the value of your asset grows does sound like an ideal situation. Kate McIntyre

New luxury apartments unveiled in Darling Harbour’s $15bn revitalised precinct
A new release of prestige apartments at Mirvac’s Harbourside Residences has been announced, unlocking the upper levels of the coming 48-storey tower. Kaylee Cranley – Sydney

The Courier Mail

Pellicano pivots Spring Hill unit tower as race for 2032 Games accommodation heats up
A national developer wants to scrap a planned inner-Brisbane residential tower in favour of a new 25-level high-rise with 260 rooms it claims could help solve Brisbane’s looming Olympics hotel crisis. Brendan O’Malley

Gold Coast Bulletin

Elle on Jefferson: New $17.5m luxury tower breaks ground in Palm Beach
Construction begins this week on an exclusive 11-storey beachfront tower in Palm Beach, as developers promise guaranteed delivery amid market uncertainty. Andrew Potts

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Parramatta Road Rezoning Opens Way for 8000 Homes
It’s been branded “beyond repair”, an “eyesore” and the “boulevard of broken dreams” but a rezoning deal will now allow “Sydney’s ugliest road” to carry 8000 new homes. Vanessa Croll

Apartments.com.au

Low supply, high returns: Why downsizers and professionals are targeting Brisbane’s inner east
There’s no shying away from the fact that the Brisbane property market is the best performing market in the country. Joel Robinson

Sherpa launches next stage of Amargo, Palm Beach
Leading South East Queensland developer Sherpa Property Group has officially launched stage two of Amargo in Palm Beach, the first of its affordability-focussed Flourish brand of new developments. Joel Robinson

Tuesday

The Australian Financial Review

The Sydney ‘no-go zone’ turning into a property hot spot
A derelict waste of space or a buyer’s dream? Owners and developers say this stretch of road deserves a higher rung on the city’s property ladder.
Hannah Tattersall

Grandparents driving up luxury unit prices in their favourite suburbs
Luxury and three-bedroom apartments in suburbs where grandparents want to live are recording the biggest increases in value across Melbourne and Sydney, with supply limited for the growing number of downsizers.
Lucy Slade

Daily Telegraph

Middle Harbour Rd, Lindfield: Residents object to $78m, nine-storey apartment plans
Locals have criticised a developer’s plan for a $78m apartment project in a north shore suburb, calling it opportunistic and disruptive to the community.
Tileah Dobson

Cumberland Council pushes for Clyde to become housing precinct
Several councils are fighting against demands for multistorey developments but one western Sydney mayor has offered a solution. Find out if the government’s on board.
Joanne Vella

Realestate.com.au

Warnings $500 billion could be wiped from property values by 2030
Half a trillion dollars could be wiped off the value of Australia’s property market by 2030 as a result of climate change, according to a grim new report.
Sarah Dowling

Sydney ‘eyesore’ set for transformation — why the government says this time, it will work
It’s not the first time Parramatta Road has been targeted as a site of inner-city regeneration. So how will the government ensure success this time around?
Juliet Helmke

New data exposes Australia’s worst suburbs for mortgage stress
Mortgage stress is sweeping across the nation, and new data has revealed the suburbs feeling the heat the most.
Lydia Kellner

Gold Coast Bulletin

Broadbeach tower site with hanging pool plans sells for $8.8m
A $8.8m Broadbeach site sale has revived plans for an ambitious 40-storey tower featuring a suspended pool that would rival the world’s most dramatic architectural features. DETAILS
Andrew Potts

Gold Coast and Northern NSW real estate: The latest auction and sales results for week ending September 14
Gold Coast and Northern NSW recorded 91 property sales over a million dollars last week, the latest auction and sales results reveal.
Peter Farago and Sayee Shree Ravi Sankar

Urban Developer – Partly Free

First Stage Filed for $1.1bn Penrith Masterplan
Plans for the first of 10 stages for a $1.1-billion masterplan west of Sydney have been filed. SHMH Group is seeking approval from the Penrith City Council for the first step of its 1995-apartment masterplan, dubbed The Beacons, on a site formerly home to the Panasonic TV assembly plant, which was demolished in 2018.
Clare Burnett

Approvals Pile Up in Emerging Gold Coast Highrise Enclaves
Approvals are pumping up the development pipeline of residential towers in two fast-emerging Surfers Paradise highrise enclaves.
Phil Bartsch

Apartments.com.au

First look: Time & Place’s take The Chimes, Potts Point redevelopment to NSW Gov
National developer Time & Place has submitted a State Significant Development Application to the NSW Government to get its Potts Point redevelopment of The Chimes building on Macleay Street approved and underway.
Joel Robinson

JWLand opens display apartment at De Burgh, Lyneham, offers $5k deposits
JWLand has opened the doors to a new display apartment in De Burgh, the final residential release within its Northbourne Village precinct in Lyneham.
Joel Robinson

Monday

The Australian Financial Review

Developer plans $590m tower on site formerly owned by Bruce Mathieson
Developer Sterling Global has set out ambitious plans for a $590 million, 42-storey mixed tower on a prominent Collins Street corner that it acquired from hotels billionaire Bruce Mathieson — seven years after its last big city-shaping project in the Melbourne CBD fell through. Michael Bleby

Worley chairman lists city $20m penthouse, Barangaroo clocks $48m sale
The founder, former CEO and current chair of Worley engineering firm John Grill and his wife Rosie have offered their sleek CBD penthouse atop Sydney’s Cove apartment building, guiding $20 million. Bonnie Campbell

This Sydney resident is angry about high rises — there aren’t enough
Labor once campaigned against Coalition-led rezoning of Sydney’s inner west. Now it faces a Greens-led push to delay more homes. Paul Karp

Paddington skyscrapers loom as Sydney’s next NIMBY battle
A historic military barracks with its own rugby field in the heart of Paddington looks set to become the next flashpoint in Sydney’s NIMBY wars, with the Australian Defence Force and the federal government to decide on its future before the end of the year. Lucy Slade

Sydney Morning Herald

‘Time to stop talking and start building’: The plan for 8000 new homes along Parramatta Road About 8000 new homes could be delivered along Parramatta Road after the state government announced plans on Sunday to rezone the busy inner west transport corridor, in the latest effort to boost density and stem Sydney’s housing affordability crisis. Ellie Busby

Forward-thinking dad nabs $1.1m inner west unit for 14-year-old daughter
A forward-thinking father paid $1.1 million at auction on Saturday for an art deco apartment in Stanmore for his 14-year-old daughter, outbidding first home buyers from the inner west. Kristy Johnson

The Brisbane Times

Plant-clad luxury apartment block revealed for inner-Brisbane
Plans to bulldoze a small Brisbane shopping strip and build greenery-covered luxury apartments have been revealed. William Davis

Domain – Free

Parents buying apartments alongside their kids driving new housing trend in Sydney and Melbourne
Twenty-something siblings Grace and Pierce Roseby have just put down a deposit on a new off-the-plan apartment, but they don’t expect it will be too much of a wrench to finally leave home when it’s finished. Sue Williams

ABC Online – Free

Parramatta Road could get up to 8,000 new homes close to Sydney CBD in rezoning plan  Thousands of new homes could be built along Parramatta Road under a rezoning plan agreed upon by the NSW government and Inner West Council. The section earmarked for rezoning stretches from Foster Street in Leichhardt to Booth Street in Camperdown. Rhiannon Soliman-Marron and Courtney Barrett Peters

Daily Telegraph

Parramatta Road from Leichhardt to Camperdown to be rezoned, making way for 8000 homes
A large swath of Leichhardt, parts of Camperdown and Parramatta Road will be rezoned to make way for 8000 homes SEE THE MAP Linda Silmalis

Warringah Mall: Westfield reveals plans for 39-storey apartment tower
Westfield’s owner has unveiled plans to build eight residential towers up to 39 storeys high at Warringah Mall, transforming Brookvale’s skyline with 1500 new homes. Jim O’Rourke

Woolgoolga development: Trafalgar St apartment block, Pullen Street subdivision approved Check out the latest apartment block approved for a coastal town on the Coffs Coast undergoing rapid change in recent years. Meanwhile a 20-lot subdivision has also been approved nearby. Janine Watson

Realestate.com.au – Free

Your chances of a September rate cut just halved
Market expectations of a rate cut later this month have dropped from 26% to 14% in just two weeks. Hope Coumbe

Inside the coastal homes half the price of a beachfront unit
An 18-storey project on the Gold Coast is offering 125 apartment units to new beach-loving buyers, at half the price you’d pay for a seafront unit. Sherpa Property Group has announced stage 2 of their new Palm Beach development, Flourish on Sixth: offering one to three-bedroom apartments with prices beginning as low as $575,000. Nicholas Finch — Gold Coast

Adelaide Advertiser

Citify wants variations to its $200m Buckingham development to include more apartments The developer wants its already-controversial development to add an extra 21 apartments to the approved design, prompting Walkerville Council and local MP to slam the proposed changes. Erin Jones

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Dare Wins Swift Approval for Luxury Mosman Scheme
Securing development approval for a major project in just nine months is virtually unheard of in New South Wales. But Dare Property Group has done it, winning the green light for its $200-million luxury residential development at Mosman, an eastern suburb of Sydney, in precisely that timeframe. Clare Burnett

Sterling Global Greenlit for Melbourne Heritage Highrise
A century after the State Savings Bank of Victoria opened its doors on Collins Street to serve Melbourne’s post-Gold Rush prosperity, the heritage-listed building is entering a new chapter as the cornerstone of a 41-storey highrise. Leon Della Bosca

Fast-Track Funding Clears Way for 13,000 Queensland Homes
The potential for more than 13,000 homes has been unlocked in Queensland this week thanks to the latest round of funding under the state’s $2-billion infrastructure scheme. Lindsay Saunders

Apartments.com.au

First look: Steer joins Jefferson Lane, Palm Beach apartment boom with Jardin plans
Rob Steer’s Steer Developments is doubling-down on Palm Beach, expanding its footprint with a new tower near the sand. Joel Robinson

Sherpa Group snaps up two more Palm Beach sites to expand Flourish brand
Prolific South East Queensland developer Sherpa Group has snapped up two more Palm Beach sites to expand it’s affordability focus Flourish brand of apartments. Joel Robinson

First look: Bakery Square precinct to breathe new life into Brisbane’s Kedron
Kedron is the latest Brisbane suburb in-line for a large, mixed-use new precinct that will reshape the suburb. George Weston Foods Limited, one of Australia and New Zealand’s largest food manufacturers, has filed plans for a 3.6-hectare mixed-use precinct dubbed in the planning application as Bakery Square. Joel Robinson

The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

New State planning reforms causing confusion in CALD communities
NSW State Government’s planning reforms for Low and Mid-rise housing policy and Transport Orientated Development are causing confusion and misunderstanding in the local Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities, Georges River Council was told last month. Jim Gainsford

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