Are Nimbys in retreat. One story this week has the planning minister Paul Scully telling Mosman Council that he has no plans to curb the state’s low to mid-rise planning policy.

Meanwhile across the water in Rose Bay the Land and Environment Court has pushed back on Woollahra’s efforts to restrict high-rises.

And a developer in Brookvale has returned for a third time to add extra floors to an already approved apartment block. 

Want to go up in the world? In Sydney’s tallest apartment block you won’t get a sniff of an unit for anything lower than double figures. That’s all in this week’s feed from Left Field.

Free Reads

Domain

The $11m ‘sky home’ offering a peek into the world of the ultra-rich
A four-bedroom apartment at One Barangaroo asking $11 million offers a window into ultra-premium Sydney living, in a tower where sub-$9 million is no longer enough to secure an entry-level home.

Developer secretly sells illegally cleared Sydney site of rejected $9.8m mansion
A Sutherland Shire bushland site where trees were illegally cleared for a $9.8 million mansion was quietly sold off-market days before the development application was rejected, changing hands for $850,000, about $40,000 less than its 2019 purchase price.

ABC Online

Tiny forests popping up across Sydney as part of effort to restore urban tree canopy
Tiny forests have been planted across Sydney in an urban greening push aimed at rebuilding tree canopy that has been slowly declining in denser areas.

Realestate.com.au

Sydney’s new tallest building: $3.5b twin tower development gets approved
The Castlereagh Place approval is being picked up across the property press, with the 82-storey towers set to include Australia’s highest rooftop pool at 262 metres, eclipsing the current record held by Melbourne’s Australia 108.

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Undercover Ops: The Verdict on BtR’s Front Line
Franklin Street’s head of advisory mystery-shopped 25 build-to-rent assets across the eastern seaboard to develop the sector’s first operational benchmarking scorecard, with some operators performing significantly better than others on the metrics that drive lease-up and retention.

Lowe Resets Victorian Off-the-Plan Record with ‘Millionaire’s Row’ Sale
Lowe Living has set a new Victorian off-the-plan record with two penthouse sales at Brighton Savoy achieving close to $50,000 per square metre, eclipsing the previous benchmark set at Como Toorak..

‘Let Me Be Clear’: Scully Rejects Mosman Council Call to Pause LMR
NSW Planning Minister Scully has given Mosman Council an unambiguous rejection of its request to pause the Low and Mid-Rise housing policy, as the council presses ahead with an alternative masterplan it hopes to win state approval for.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

Developers’ court wins sink Woollahra’s NIMBY fight
Woollahra Council’s campaign against medium-density apartments in Rose Bay is losing in the Land and Environment Court, with planning firm Urbis describing the rulings as a meaningful boost for the state government’s inner-city density ambitions.

The $3.5b twin apartment towers set to transform Sydney’s CBD
Billbergia Group and Metrics Credit Partners have secured City of Sydney approval for Castlereagh Place, two 82-storey towers delivering 607 apartments and a 209-room luxury hotel on the largest amalgamated land parcel in the CBD’s history.

CGT changes could lead to effective tax rates of up to 80 per cent
The new CGT structure will strongly push retail investors toward low-risk assets, with effective tax rates in some scenarios potentially reaching 80 per cent.

The Australian

Bank of Mum and Dad retreats amid fallout from federal budget property changes
The share of first-home buyers entering the market with a family guarantee has nearly halved since February, falling from 6.41 per cent to 3.86 per cent in June as parental investors pull back amid uncertainty over the budget’s negative gearing and CGT changes.

Want to succeed as a property investor? Keep away from other property investors
Cotality’s analysis of 3,000 suburbs over nearly two decades finds that investors who bought in owner-occupier-dominated areas consistently outperformed those who concentrated in popular investor zones, turning the herd instinct that works in equities into a reliable path to underperformance in property.

‘Hold onto your hats’: Property downturn just the beginning, economists warn
HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham is forecasting national dwelling prices will fall up to 8 per cent by end-2027, arguing that Labor’s tax changes and three RBA rate rises have drained investor demand faster than anticipated.

Auction clearance rate stays at floor, three weeks running below 50pc
National clearance rates have stayed below 50 per cent for a third consecutive week, with Melbourne and Sydney both seeing fewer properties taken to auction as falling prices and tax changes continue to erode buyer confidence.

Bathla Group financiers in control of some of its Sydney building sites amid $3.1bn debt bill
One of NSW’s largest housing developers, Bathla Group, has ceded control of some apartment projects to lender-appointed crews, with $3.1 billion in debt and 10,847 apartments in the pipeline as private credit lenders discuss options to avoid receivership.

Billbergia bets on North Shore with $1.3bn Chatswood apartment towers
Billbergia and Metrics Credit Partners have lodged plans for a $1.3 billion, 552-apartment mixed-use development in Chatswood with two towers of 58 and 60 storeys, betting on north shore apartment demand despite the current market conditions.

Budget backfire: 20pc fewer first-home buyers applying for loans
First-home buyer loan applications have dropped more than 20 per cent since the federal budget, raising questions about whether the negative gearing and capital gains changes are actually delivering more opportunity for younger buyers.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Claire went way beyond her budget to get a home. There’s a better way
A new build-to-rent scheme is targeting single people priced out of the rental market with architect-designed 30 to 35 square metre City Starters apartments at Coronation’s Precinct 75 in St Peters, with the typology to be trialled in Sydney before expanding to Victoria and Queensland.

Why property investors may be buying in the wrong suburbs
Cotality research spanning 16 years finds $100 invested in a unit in an owner-occupier-dominated suburb in 2010 grew to $199 by 2026, compared with $165 in an investor-heavy suburb.

Sustainable packaging queen lists $11m unit in Sydney’s tower of power
Sustainable packaging entrepreneur Kerry Gao has listed a Crown Residences apartment she bought for $10.5 million in 2024, with agents seeking around $11 million.

WA Today

Perth property listings hit three-year high as buyer ‘frenzy’ cools
Perth’s total property listings have hit a three-year high at 6,121 as buyer frenzy cools and the city’s exceptionally tight market begins to normalise.

The Daily Telegraph

84 Tallawong Rd: Residents fight $79m plan to build 434 flats on already busy Rouse Hill road
Victorian developer LK Property Group has lodged an amendment to add 67 apartments to an already-approved Rouse Hill block, drawing strong community opposition centred on traffic congestion and school safety concerns.

Brookvale: Proposed 74-unit apartment block will add to suburb’s 15-year new housing plan
A developer has returned to planning authorities seeking additional storeys on a Brookvale site that already has approval for an apartment block, the third time additional density has been requested on one of the suburb’s most prominent sites.

28 Brookhollow Ave: Plans lodged for $189 million twin towers with 257 apartments in Norwest
A $189 million proposal for twin towers reaching 27 storeys with 257 apartments has been lodged for a Norwest site, adding to the significant pipeline building in Sydney’s north west employment and residential corridor.

Auction clearance rate slumps below 50 per cent for third week
Auction clearance rates fell below 50 per cent for a third straight week nationally, driven by rate rises and tax changes that have pushed vendors to reconsider taking their chances in a public auction.

The Courier Mail

Extra tower added to mega Toowong unit project
A leading developer has revised one of Brisbane’s largest residential projects in Toowong to add an extra tower, responding to community feedback across more than 500 submissions.

The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader

66 units: New $38m apartment block revealed for area near Woolooware station
An eight-storey, 66-unit apartment development has been proposed for Woolooware Road under the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, within 400 metres of Woolooware station.

The Illawarra Mercury

Council concerns over Wollongong’s 26-storey tower dismissed
Level 33 has won planning approval to upgrade its Wollongong site to towers reaching 26 storeys with 426 apartments, despite objections from Wollongong City Council, after the Department of Planning granted the project State Significant Development status.

The Brisbane Times

Panoramic views, casino downstairs: City apartment sells at auction for $3.43m
A Queens Wharf apartment on the 51st floor of Diamond Tower that had sat in listings for six months sold under the hammer for $3.43 million after three buyers competed for the keys. Patience and the right buyer are still the formula for premium Brisbane stock.

Luxury redevelopment plans for riverside heritage site unveiled
Singapore-backed Capella Hotel Group and Brisbane’s Verso Projects have received approval to develop the Shafston House riverfront site at Kangaroo Point into a prestige residential tower with a private marina and six pools.

The Adelaide Advertiser

Adelaide auction clearance rates plummet again as the post federal budget property market rapidly cools
Adelaide’s auction clearance rates have dropped sharply in the weeks since the federal budget, with one Kidman Park vendor taking a $50,000 reduction in what agents are describing as a visibly cooling market.