In the Media: What Is Lateral Living? - The Real Estate Podcast

Our Director Craig Donohue was recently a guest on the The Real Estate Podcast to discuss the Sydney Luxury Apartment market: What is lateral living?

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Speaker 1 (00:02):

And welcome back to another episode of The Real Estate Breakfast as we cover the latest property news every morning on iHeart Radio, Spotify and Apple, and of course, wherever you get your podcasts from. And it's a Wednesday Groundhog Day, middle of the working week. It is the 18th for October for 2023, and this morning we're going to be talking about Lateral living. Yes, I did say lateral living. Have you heard what that is?

Well, it's a growing trend towards oversized single floor apartments that offer the advantages of a family house without maintenance. This is of course, if you can afford the price tag. So joining us this morning is Craig Donohue from Ayre Real Estate and he's from Sydney. And good morning to you Craig. Welcome to the Real Estate Breakfast this morning.

Speaker 2 (01:10):

Good morning. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:11):

Tell us a little bit about, because there's been a bit of a shift, hasn't there, this whole lifestyle change that's going on at the moment. So you've seen a bit of this over the last couple of years. So what's kind of driving this do you think?

Speaker 2 (01:26):

Yeah, certainly. So I think one of the things that we've seen over the last few years is as people get to a certain point in their life, what they're looking for in a lifestyle is changed a lot from what they may have been looking at five or 10 years ago. So we are finding people are really looking for that ultra convenient, ultra luxurious lifestyle, really getting the best of both worlds. Looking at removing themselves from the big house that requires a lot of maintenance, but still wanting the size, still wanting the space, but then wanting to upgrade that as well. So have a view, have access to building amenities, building services, and then also be located in a position where you're surrounded by all the best lifestyle you can have, whether it be restaurants, bars, shops, transport, park, the harbour. It's really just wanting the best of all worlds.

Speaker 1 (02:18):

So what's been happening in the space of the luxury apartment property market for you over the last couple of months? What's kind of a couple of key takeaways?

Speaker 2 (02:30):

Look, it's been a really exciting time for us. I guess one of the biggest events we're seeing at the moment is there's been a lot of attention around the Barangaroo precinct in Sydney, which is probably the benchmark in terms of what luxury lifestyle, high-rise apartment lifestyle is on offer in Australia. Really. We've got the first One Sydney Harbour tower coming up to completion in January. And so we're seeing a lot of people really excited to move into their beautiful brand new Harbour front apartments. And we're seeing a lot of people who have a bit of FOMO from not buying when they were for sale and really trying to do whatever they can to secure something around that position or something similar. And finding these oversized departments is challenging. There's not enough of them to meet the demand of the buyers who really want to secure one.

Speaker 1 (03:18):

Yeah, it's always a problem where people look at a development on the plan and they can't commit to it. It's like, oh no, no, I don't think so. Then they see the crane, then they see the building going on and they're saying, why did I hesitate

Speaker 2 (03:37):

The brave are the ones who are rewarded in this space. I mean, you see a lot of people just don't have, I guess, the ability to envision what the finished product's going to be going to look like. And that's understandable. It's a big financial commitment. It's a big decision when you are just looking at a plan in a display suite and an idea. That's why there are a lot more people who are, I guess, willing and able to make the commitment now when they're seeing it off the plan because they know that five years down the track when the building's complete, whoever's bought those properties does not want to sell them.

Speaker 1 (04:13):

Yeah, you've got to do that whole Steve Ward to use the analogy from the cricketer, he had that great. If you can pre-visualize, you'll probably end up saving a lot of money.

Speaker 2 (04:28):

Absolutely. Absolutely. It's very true.

**Break**

Speaker 1 (07:19):

And it is a Wednesday morning. We're talking with Craig Donohue from Ayre Real Estate and having a look at this question about lateral living, which is a growing trend. These apartments, as Craig mentioned, are sought after, especially by I would think, downsizes, the corporate couples families who appreciate the luxurious features and that's really what it's all about. And Craig, the demand for these, I guess has sort of led to the developers to create them because they're really filling the void, aren't they? The developers?

Speaker 2 (07:59):

Yeah, definitely. I mean, if we look at what a traditional high-rise development site would look like, even 10 years ago, there may have only been a penthouse and a sub penthouse on offer that were substantial size properties. Now we're seeing buildings with more complex and diverse floor plans being included so that there is a larger allowance for these larger apartments as the demand for them has increased.

Speaker 1 (08:28):

So in terms of complex, what are some of the complexities that the architects are actually putting into these lateral single storied, high quality finished spaces?

Speaker 2 (08:42):

There's some really interesting and exciting designs. We're seeing anything from additional studies to second living spaces, large outdoor areas. In some cases we're seeing additional pools, spas, outdoor barbecue areas. I mean there's really a diverse range of features that have been incorporated now to make these larger properties unique.

Speaker 1 (09:07):

And Craig, what about the sub penthouse on top of the Swiss hotel? I think that's a good example of just the sort of luxury you're talking about.

Speaker 2 (09:16):

It's a great example. That's an apartment that's 330 plus square metres on a single floor. What's interesting about that apartment in particular is that it has this incredibly large outdoor terrace that's well over a hundred square metres. So about a third of the apartment is outdoor space.

Speaker 1 (09:37):

What about the international buyers at the moment? Are they keeping you busy?

Speaker 2 (09:42):

They are. I think the international buyers tend to flock more to the off the plan purchase, which is what they're more eligible to buy as well. There's certainly an increase of international buying activity again that we've seen spark up again this year. And I think that will continue through next year as well. I mean, there's certainly no shortage of people who are drawn to not just Sydney, but Australia in general as a place to not only invest but also have a home,

Speaker 1 (10:13):

As I mentioned, well into October. So how do you think it's likely to play for you for next month and also with the run up to Christmas?

Speaker 2 (10:23):

The run up to Christmas is always a busy time for us in the luxury apartment market, especially in the Sydney CBD. Our strongest period is off the back of the spring selling season as people sell the big houses they want to sell to then find the apartment, they kind of do that first and then come to us. So there's no quiet time for us over Christmas where it's getting busier and busier and we're expecting that to continue on right up until Christmas.

Speaker 1 (10:51):

Alright, well, sounds like you're going to be busy, which is great to hear. Craig, thanks for coming on to The Real Estate Breakfast this morning and good luck with some of these apartments that you are dealing with lateral living. I think we've kind of educated people that may not have known exactly what that is. It's all about the lifestyle and luxurious features. Hey, have yourself a fantastic Wednesday.

Speaker 2 (11:18):

Thanks so much for having me.