Nicole Jacobs on 7News: Melbourne’s Luxury Property Market

Cohen Handler’s Victorian managing director, Nicole Jacobs, joined 7 News Melbourne to talk through the luxury end of the market, and the segment landed on a simple idea. The very top of Melbourne property runs on its own logic. When the right home comes up, the buyers at that level move, and they don’t wait for the wider market to give them permission.

If you can’t see the video above, you can watch the full 7 News Melbourne segment here.

The year’s biggest deals

The report looked back at the biggest prestige moves of the past financial year, and the numbers are worth sitting with. 7 News put the top five purchases at $219 million combined. Against a median house price of just under a million dollars, that’s roughly 220 average Melbourne homes, bought by five buyers.

Leading the list, Chemist Warehouse co-founder Jack Gance and his wife paid a reported $80 million for a compound in Toorak. A celebrity couple from Taiwan spent $45 million on a Mediterranean-style home in the leafy east, a property they reportedly planned to knock down. The top five also included a $30 million Hawthorn deal. Crown Casino founder Lloyd Williams sold his city penthouse for close to $18 million, and the Birkenstock heir picked up a home in Brighton for $8 million. Toorak and Hawthorn both sit in Melbourne’s blue-chip inner east, which does most of the heavy lifting at this end of the market.

Why these buyers don’t wait for the market

This is the part most people misread. At the very top, a purchase isn’t really a market call. As Nicole put it, “When that rare opportunity comes up, then they’ll seize it regardless of what’s happening everywhere else.”

Stock at this level is thin and rarely repeats. A trophy home with the right land, in the right pocket, might come up once in a decade. So the decision is about the asset, not the cycle. The buyer who hesitates because the headlines feel soft usually isn’t the one who ends up with the keys.

Toorak, where land is king

Asked where the number one prestige address sits, Nicole didn’t hedge. “Definitely Toorak. That’s your number one. That’s where land is king and that’s where if you’ve got big land in Toorak, you’re doing really well.”

That’s exactly what the Gance deal reflects. At $80 million you’re not buying a house so much as a parcel of land that almost never trades. Scarcity at that level holds value in a way the broader market doesn’t, which is why the top of Toorak tends to move independently of what’s happening in the suburbs around it.

What’s listed but not yet sold

The more useful signal isn’t the deals that closed, it’s the ones that haven’t. On the homes currently sitting on the market, Nicole was measured. “They’re sort of big ones on the market at the moment. They haven’t transacted yet. So that’ll be interesting to watch to see how the market is actually performing this side of the new financial year.”

That’s the honest read. Some of the biggest homes are listed right now and haven’t changed hands. How they sell over the coming months will tell us far more about the health of the top end than any single record price did.

What it means if you’re buying at this level

Buying in this part of the market is a different exercise to buying a family home in the suburbs. Much of the best stock is off market, prices are rarely a guide to value, and the people on the other side of the table do this for a living. That’s where having someone whose only job is your side of the deal earns its keep, before a property becomes public knowledge and before competing buyers turn up.

For a fuller read on where Nicole sees genuine value at the top of the Melbourne market right now, including how to read a motivated vendor, it’s worth ten minutes.

Speak to the Melbourne team

Nicole and the Victorian team work across Melbourne’s prestige and family markets every week, at auction and off market. If you’re considering a purchase at the top end, talk to Cohen Handler’s Melbourne team or get in touch for a confidential conversation. We work exclusively on the buy side. No listings, no vendor relationships, no conflict of interest.

Frequently asked questions

What is happening in Melbourne’s luxury property market?

Melbourne’s top end is running largely independently of the wider market. Trophy homes with scarce land continue to trade at very high prices when they come up, while a number of major listings are sitting unsold, which buyers are watching closely as a signal for the new financial year. On 7 News, Nicole Jacobs noted that ultra-wealthy buyers tend to act on the right opportunity regardless of broader conditions.

What was the most expensive Melbourne property sale in the past year?

According to 7 News, the priciest deal of the past financial year was an $80 million compound in Toorak, reportedly bought by Chemist Warehouse co-founder Jack Gance and his wife. The top five sales of the year totalled $219 million combined.

Why is Toorak Melbourne’s most prestigious suburb?

Toorak holds the top spot because of land. As Nicole Jacobs told 7 News, “that’s where land is king”, and large landholdings in Toorak rarely come to market, so they hold value in a way the broader market doesn’t. That scarcity is what underpins the suburb’s record prices.

Do luxury property buyers care about market conditions?

Less than most people assume. At the very top, a purchase is driven by the asset rather than the cycle. In Nicole Jacobs’ words, when a rare opportunity comes up, these buyers “will seize it regardless of what’s happening everywhere else”, because the right home may not come up again for years.

Should I use a buyers advocate to buy prestige property in Melbourne?

For most buyers at this level, yes. Much of the best stock trades off market, advertised prices are an unreliable guide to value, and the selling side is highly experienced. A buyers advocate gives you someone working only for you, with access to properties before they become public and the negotiating experience to read the deal correctly.

Cohen Handler’s Victorian Managing Director, Nicole Jacobs, joined 7 News Melbourne to talk through the luxury end of the market, and the segment landed on a simple idea. The very top of Melbourne property runs on its own logic. When the right home comes up, the buyers at that level move, and they don’t wait for the wider market to give them permission.

If you can’t see the video above, you can watch the full 7 News Melbourne segment here.

The year’s biggest deals

The report looked back at the biggest prestige moves of the past financial year, and the numbers are worth sitting with. 7 News put the top five purchases at $219 million combined. Against a median house price of just under a million dollars, that’s roughly 220 average Melbourne homes, bought by five buyers.

Leading the list, Chemist Warehouse co-founder Jack Gance and his wife paid a reported $80 million for a compound in Toorak. A celebrity couple from Taiwan spent $45 million on a Mediterranean-style home in the leafy east, a property they reportedly planned to knock down. The top five also included a $30 million Hawthorn deal. Crown Casino founder Lloyd Williams sold his city penthouse for close to $18 million, and the Birkenstock heir picked up a home in Brighton for $8 million. Toorak and Hawthorn both sit in Melbourne’s blue-chip inner east, which does most of the heavy lifting at this end of the market.

Why these buyers don’t wait for the market

This is the part most people misread. At the very top, a purchase isn’t really a market call. As Nicole put it, “When that rare opportunity comes up, then they’ll seize it regardless of what’s happening everywhere else.”

Stock at this level is thin and rarely repeats. A trophy home with the right land, in the right pocket, might come up once in a decade. So the decision is about the asset, not the cycle. The buyer who hesitates because the headlines feel soft usually isn’t the one who ends up with the keys.

Toorak, where land is king

Asked where the number one prestige address sits, Nicole didn’t hedge. “Definitely Toorak. That’s your number one. That’s where land is king and that’s where if you’ve got big land in Toorak, you’re doing really well.”

That’s exactly what the Gance deal reflects. At $80 million you’re not buying a house so much as a parcel of land that almost never trades. Scarcity at that level holds value in a way the broader market doesn’t, which is why the top of Toorak tends to move independently of what’s happening in the suburbs around it.

What’s listed but not yet sold

The more useful signal isn’t the deals that closed, it’s the ones that haven’t. On the homes currently sitting on the market, Nicole was measured. “They’re sort of big ones on the market at the moment. They haven’t transacted yet. So that’ll be interesting to watch to see how the market is actually performing this side of the new financial year.”

That’s the honest read. Some of the biggest homes are listed right now and haven’t changed hands. How they sell over the coming months will tell us far more about the health of the top end than any single record price did.

What it means if you’re buying at this level

Buying in this part of the market is a different exercise to buying a family home in the suburbs. Much of the best stock is off market, prices are rarely a guide to value, and the people on the other side of the table do this for a living. That’s where having someone whose only job is your side of the deal earns its keep, before a property becomes public knowledge and before competing buyers turn up.

For a fuller read on where Nicole sees genuine value at the top of the Melbourne market right now, including how to read a motivated vendor, it’s worth ten minutes.

Speak to the Melbourne team

Nicole and the Victorian team work across Melbourne’s prestige and family markets every week, at auction and off market. If you’re considering a purchase at the top end, talk to Cohen Handler’s Melbourne team or get in touch for a confidential conversation. We work exclusively on the buy side. No listings, no vendor relationships, no conflict of interest.

Frequently asked questions

What is happening in Melbourne’s luxury property market?

Melbourne’s top end is running largely independently of the wider market. Trophy homes with scarce land continue to trade at very high prices when they come up, while a number of major listings are sitting unsold, which buyers are watching closely as a signal for the new financial year. On 7 News, Nicole Jacobs noted that ultra-wealthy buyers tend to act on the right opportunity regardless of broader conditions.

What was the most expensive Melbourne property sale in the past year?

According to 7 News, the priciest deal of the past financial year was an $80 million compound in Toorak, reportedly bought by Chemist Warehouse co-founder Jack Gance and his wife. The top five sales of the year totalled $219 million combined.

Why is Toorak Melbourne’s most prestigious suburb?

Toorak holds the top spot because of land. As Nicole Jacobs told 7 News, “that’s where land is king”, and large landholdings in Toorak rarely come to market, so they hold value in a way the broader market doesn’t. That scarcity is what underpins the suburb’s record prices.

Do luxury property buyers care about market conditions?

Less than most people assume. At the very top, a purchase is driven by the asset rather than the cycle. In Nicole Jacobs’ words, when a rare opportunity comes up, these buyers “will seize it regardless of what’s happening everywhere else”, because the right home may not come up again for years.

Should I use a buyers advocate to buy prestige property in Melbourne?

For most buyers at this level, yes. Much of the best stock trades off market, advertised prices are an unreliable guide to value, and the selling side is highly experienced. A buyers advocate gives you someone working only for you, with access to properties before they become public and the negotiating experience to read the deal correctly.