Opals are considered unlucky in some cultures – a superstition spread by the diamond industry, apparently.

But owners in Sydney’s Opal Tower could consider themselves lucky that the serious defects that led to their building being evacuated twice over Christmas in 2018 became apparent while the 392-unit block at Sydney Olympic Park was still inside its statutory warranty period.

Not only that, the NSW Government was a co-developer, so there was zero chance of the builder slinking off into the night. To be fair, the developer, Icon and its parent company Kajima has pumped $50million into rectifying the building defects (and shoring up their reputation).

And now, according to a report by Michael Bleby in the Australian Financial Review the block also has a unique 20-year construction warranty and the prices of apartments that were once considered unsellable are tipping over the negative equity threshold.

More than seven years after cracks in the concrete structure forced residents out of Opal Tower, on the night before Christmas, no less, owners say the building is now completely free of defects.

Owners corporation chair Shady Eskander told the AFR that every issue has now been resolved except one: property values.

The AFR’s review of nearly 80 sales since the building’s first evacuation found most owners are still sitting on losses, though one unit – a two-bedroom apartment that resold in April – finally cleared its original price by a slim margin.

Opal’s outcome contrasts vividly with Mascot Towers, a 132-unit complex evacuated in 2019 due to subsidence, where the saga dragged on for five years and most owners ultimately sold at a loss through a state-sponsored deal with the major banks.

That said, independent research and government data suggest Opal and Mascot were symptoms of a much broader issue that former Building Commissioner David Chandler was brought in to address:

• Industry-wide prevalence  –  Strata Community Association NSW reporting from 2021 found roughly four in ten newly built apartment complexes across the state had serious defects, while separate building-inspection research has put the figure for new Sydney apartments as high as 85%, with waterproofing failures the single most common problem.
• One Central Park (Sydney) –  once celebrated as one of the world’s best tall buildings, it was reported in late 2023 to be affected by significant defects roughly a decade after completion, requiring costly remediation.
• Vicinity (Inner West Sydney) –  owners of this complex were reported in mid-2023 to be facing a rectification bill of around $50 million across 276 apartments.
• NSW government survey data  –  the state’s biennial Strata Defects Survey (covering buildings completed since 2018) has tracked a gradual decline in serious common-property defects since 2020, which officials attribute to Chandler-driven reforms like the Design and Building Practitioners Act, the Strata Building Bond scheme, and Building Commission NSW’s expanded powers to order rectification during construction.
• Structural causes beyond cladding — inspection-industry data attributes most non-waterproofing structural defects to reactive clay soils, poor footing design, and substandard construction practices, particularly in Western Sydney.

Opal’s eventual outcome – full rectification, a long-dated guarantee, and a rise in property values – is the exception rather than the norm; most owners of defective new apartments have far less recourse and a much longer wait for any value recovery.

And Opal, with its 20-year guarantee and continuing scrutiny on its defect rectifications, could provide bargains for anyone who gets in early, especially since they won’t be competing with superstitious property shoppers.