If you think parking in strata is contentious, check out the stories below about the battles over on-street car spots.

From a major stoush about moving illegal witches hats in Balmain to removing an unauthorised “residents only’ sign in Adelaide, it seems the most precious bits of real estate are the patches where you park your car.

Plus there’s the landscaping revamp in a Hawkesbury acreage inspired by an inner-city café in Sydney.

Add into the mix the property deals of the famous and infamous and you have another lively bunch of stories from our friends at Leftfield.

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Domain

This garden in Glossodia was inspired by one of Sydney’s most beloved cafes
Inspired by visits with their granddaughters to the Grounds of Alexandria – a much-loved inner-city Sydney cafe and urban farm – the owners of acreage at Glossodia, on NSW’s Hawkesbury flood plain, set out to create garden grounds of their own.

Family left ‘powerless’ over battle to stop cellphone tower outside their home
For years, the view from Kevin McKillop’s home has been trees, sunshine and birds. Now it is set to be blocked by a 15.5-metre-tall mobile phone tower.

Olympic champion drops staggering sum on Toorak mansion
Olympic champion Grant Hackett and his wife Sharlene have snapped up a Toorak mansion for an eye-watering price. A caveat was lodged on the new luxury property’s title at the end of May under Sharlene’s name, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Pete Evans relists Byron hinterland wellness retreat after second sale fails to settle
Former television chef Pete Evans and his wife, Nicola Robinson, are seeking to move on from their New South Wales estate yet again, after a second attempted sale failed to settle.

‘Best decision I made’: The $75k leap that changed this star’s life
Erin Holland says the best financial decision she ever made started with a “very nervous” leap into Australia’s property market. The Miss World Australia-turned TV presenter bought a classic Queenslander in 2019 for about $745,000, after years of saving every dollar she could while building a career.

The unwritten Balmain parking ‘rule’ that has outraged locals
A handwritten note accusing a resident of breaking “neighbourhood protocol” has sparked a divisive debate in Sydney’s inner west and even prompted a warning from NSW police. Balmain local Sophie Kennedy had no idea she would spark a war of words when she recently parked on a public street in the sought-after suburb.

Sold before auction: Sydney jazz legend Chuck Yates’ time-capsule Annandale home
An untouched Sydney house with soul has sold prior to auction, for the first time in half a century, with a $2.7 million guide – the sold price remains undisclosed.

Commercial Real Estate

Bananas, mangoes and golden guitars: Why do Australians love Big Things?
Australians love Big Things, be it a prawn, bogan, mango, banana, penguin, tractor, pineapple, peanut or koala. Along the nation’s highway, they are colossal, playful billboards that promote a regional town or area’s primary industry and character.

ABC Online

Emirates proposes increase in helicopter flights at luxury Wolgan Valley resort
Emirates has lodged an application to increase the number of helicopter flights for its Wolgan Valley resort from 28 per week to 210. The company says it still plans to reopen this year with luxury four-wheel drives, even if the increase is not approved.

Council uses AI to inform 10-year plan for ‘more depth’ at ‘fifth of the price’
A northern Tasmanian council has used AI to help produce its 10-year strategic plan. The council says employing a consultant to do the same work would have taken more than 12 months. A tech adviser says AI offers small councils the same tools used by the world’s biggest companies.

Roadside stalls are booming in the Adelaide Hills, attracting 45,000 members on social media
Roadside stalls have become hugely popular in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills. Owners say having a roadside stall has helped to grow their small businesses, or get them started.

Realestate.com.au

$1 Italian homes keep booming as Aus market tightens
Imagine basking in the sun at your villa in the quaint Italian village of Ollolai or sipping a spritz and tucking into pasta in an Italian town literally called Penne — and doing it all for the cost of a convenience store coffee.

‘Sorry’: TV stars’ blow up at tech-fail Aus event
Having Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles co-stars Josh Flagg and Josh Altman speak at a recent conference in Australia, but not on stage together, was a lost entertainment thrill for the 5000 estate agents in attendance.

Adrian Portelli defends brutal three minute phone rule
Adrian Portelli has told My Reno Rules entrants to keep their phones close, with a missed call during the live finale enough to cost them a $2m cash prize or a renovated Melbourne home.

Feminist trailblazer’s Potts Point home for sale
Feminist trailblazer, author, change agent and businesswoman Wendy McCarthy has listed her Potts Point apartment. McCarthy, who backed the Women’s Electoral Lobby in the early 1970s, has leading agents Debbie Donnelly at PPD and Vicki Laing at Laing Real Estate seeking $4.55m buyers for the 1920s Bellevue Gardens apartment.

AFL legend Michael Voss’ former home flies past sale expectations at auction
AFL legend Michael Voss’ former home has sold at auction over the weekend, for nearly twice the price his family had sold it for. Voss and his wife Donna bought the home at 62 Marriott St, Coorparoo, for $2.5m in 2009, and sold it for $2.578m in 2017.

The tiny red house in Tasmania quietly earning its owners $30,000 a year
At the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in a former mining town in northeast Tasmania sits a tiny red house that looks as though it has been lifted from the Swedish countryside and dropped among the gums.

Adelaide Hills illegal parking sign sparks warning against rogue move
Adelaide residents are being warned not to take parking issues into their own hands after an illegal sign was erected to steer visitors away from a roadside. The makeshift sign was spotted in the Adelaide Hills on Monomeith Rd at Ashton last month, stating “residential parking only”.

‘Shamefully exploited’: Veterans forced to pay $100,000 extra on home loans
They put their lives on the line for our nation, serving with courage and sacrifice. Yet, when it comes to securing a home, Australia’s defence personnel and veterans are being shamefully exploited, with some forced to pay a staggering $100,000 extra on their home loans.

The Block home next to Emese Fajk’s fake buy sold for $5m
The Brighton home with a front-row seat to one of the biggest scandals in The Block’s history has sold for a whopping sum north of $5m.

Channel 9 presenter Tom Steinfort sells Melbourne home
Television news presenter and journalist Tom Steinfort and his stylist wife Claudia Jukic have quietly sold their house in Melbourne’s inner south east.

Daylesford home from The Block listed with $2.9m-$3m range
A Daylesford house from The Block’s 2025 season is back on the market with a $2.9m-$3m range, slightly less than it sold for on the show.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

Two-year AI land grab has begun, and Australia’s been offered a plot
In the past three technology big bang eras, the best time to invest was four to six years after creation. That’s about now for AI.

Olympic champion Grant Hackett buys $13m-plus mansion
Grant Hackett, an Olympic swimming champion and boss of ASX-listed financial services company Generation Development Group, and his wife, dessert chef Sharlene, are moving into the city’s most expensive suburb, having snapped up a $13.45 million mansion in Toorak.

Billionaire Dennis Bastas pays record $136.1m for Toorak mega estate
After months of speculation over the exact price paid for one of Toorak’s finest estates, Coonac, the sale has been finalised and includes a surprise addition. Pharma billionaire Dennis Bastas and his wife Gina paid a total of $136.1 million to create Australia’s most expensive estate through a two-title deal that takes in both the landmark Toorak Italianate mansion Coonac and an adjoining 1950s apartment block in Melbourne.

The Australian

What are Australia’s peak dying years?
It is a question that everyone has asked themselves or will ask themselves at some stage: how long do I have in this world? Helpfully the bible’s Book of Psalms provides an answer: “three score and 10” (meaning 70), or “four score” (80) if we are strong.

The Sydney Morning Herald

‘FIFO playground for the rich’: Tensions soar over luxury resort’s helicopter plan
A battle is brewing over the skies of the Blue Mountains, with local councils, residents and bushwalkers warning a helicopter tourism proposal by an ultra-luxury resort risks transforming one of Australia’s most protected wilderness areas into a “fly-in, fly-out playground” for the global rich.

Sydney, where have all the babies gone? See how your suburb has changed over time
We’re in the midst of a baby decline, with some experts warning of a “demographic winter”. And the data shows it will change how we live.

From a $1.3m Zetland unit to one of Sydney’s most expensive homes: Estranged wife wins $95m mansion
For the past five years, John Changjin Li has lived at one of the most expensive residences in Australia, set on the Point Piper waterfront and with one of the few private tennis courts on Sydney Harbour. But as of Monday, he no longer owns it.

‘TBC’: How $190 million was blown on Circular Quay revamp before the first sod is even turned
Consultants, lawyers and public servants account for almost one-third of the $190 million spent on planning the Circular Quay revamp before the much-hyped project stalled and tens of millions more were wasted drawing up schemes that will never be built.

Dumpling restaurateur to sell ‘redundant’ $15m Point Piper mansion
Andy Zhou, the owner of two dumpling restaurants in Sydney’s Haymarket, has put his Point Piper mansion on the market with a price guide of $15 million, local sources revealed.

Lingerie boss tipped to be the buyer of Jennifer Hawkins’ $30m Sydney mansion
Rumour has it that Justin Davis-Rice, the executive chairman and co-owner of Bendon lingerie, is the mystery buyer of Jennifer Hawkins and Jake Wall’s $30 million Whale Beach mansion.

The Age

Dust, decay and a multimillion-dollar bill: The battle to save Melbourne’s forgotten town halls
Dust settles in the arched corridor of an inner-city town hall, dark except for fingers of grey light stretching along the carpet. The air is musty, still. Quiet.

Brisbane Times

Just add sand: The plan to build Brisbane’s newest beach from scratch
Greater Brisbane is about to get a new beach, with more than 2000 tonnes of sand to be poured on the Redcliffe Peninsula coast at Woody Point. The roughly 60-metre beach, created as part of the Crockatt Park seawall upgrade, will be near the TS Moreton Cadets site and is due to open when the broader project is completed in mid-2027.

Lions great’s former home sells for millions in fierce inner-city auction
A Coorparoo home once owned by former Lions captain Michael Voss has sold over reserve after a local family splashed $5.023 million during one of Brisbane’s fiercest auctions since the federal budget poured fresh uncertainty on an already cooling market.

‘In disbelief’: Fears for koalas after Redlands Olympic venue gets federal approval
The federal government has waved through plans for a major bayside Olympic venue east of Brisbane, ruling the planned Redland Whitewater Centre will not require a full environmental assessment provided strict conditions are met.

The Daily Telegraph

Australia’s most eligible real estate agent is ‘off the market’
Australia’s most eligible real estate agent Gavin Rubinstein is engaged to his TV personality partner, Ruby Adler, after a year-long whirlwind romance.

The Herald Sun

Inside Kingston Council’s meltdown: Claims of ‘bullying’, ‘personal vendetta’ revealed
Accusations of “bullying” and “personal vendettas” have torn Kingston Council apart, leaving ratepayers with a $300,000 bill and councillors at risk of dismissal.

The Courier Mail

Clive Palmer urges PM to help homeless after buying fourth Gold Coast mansion
Queensland’s richest man has taken to social media to champion Australia’s homeless, taking aim at the Prime Minister, just days after acquiring his fourth home on Billionaires Row.

The Adelaide Advertiser

TV star Cosi shows off shocking cracks tearing through his family home
Andrew ‘Cosi’ Costello’s $45,000 fix has failed to stop his SA home from cracking and shifting, sparking hundreds of responses from followers facing the same crisis.

The West Australian

House That! Wildcats owner Mark Arena buys Scarborough homes for players amid Perth’s rental shortage
The Wildcats may not have beaten the Sydney Kings in last season’s semi-finals, but they have beaten another mighty opponent — Perth’s chronic rental shortage — with the purchase of multiple Scarborough townhouses for its players.

The Illawarra Mercury

Dumped cars and piles of rubbish: the CBD land no one owns
If no one owns the land, who is responsible for moving the abandoned cars and piles of rubbish?Glen Humphries