Every city has them. Those streets that are the place to live, and come with a worthy price tag.
Queensland’s Mermaid Beach has Hedges Avenue, with an average value of around $3 million. In Melbourne, St Georges and Albany Roads in Toorak jostle for top status.
Perth’s Mosman Park has its riverside location of Saunders Street. Then there’s Mosman’s own claim to fame, the Golden Mile, which covers the clifftop strips of Burran Avenue, Kirkoswald Avenue and Hopetoun Avenue, between Chinaman’s Beach and Balmoral Beach.
These streets are some of the most valuable in Australia, with properties which are highly coveted, tightly held and home to the who’s who of Sydney’s rich and famous.
House prices on the Golden Mile
Interested in doing some house shopping? Your bank balance will need to be overflowing to secure a home along Hopetoun, Kirkoswald or Burran Avenue. Properties here are generously sized and sit on large blocks of land. The outlooks are second-to-none and all the highlights of the local area are close by.
To secure a five- or six-bedroom, architect-designed home with bespoke finishes, sandstone terraces and manicured gardens, anything under $10 million could be considered a bargain. Paying this amount or a larger figure will give you multiple parking spaces, stylish interiors and sweeping vistas of Sydney Harbour.
Recent sales in the Golden Mile include:
- $23 million for 1-3 Burran Avenue, a six-bedroom, 1650 sqm prestige property sold by former Foxtel Chief Richard Freudenstein (the highest ever sale price in the area)
- Over $11 million for a four-bedroom, 1000 sqm home on Burran Avenue
- $10 million for a four-bedroom, five-bathroom home on Hopetoun Avenue
- Close to $12 million for a seven-bedroom home on Kirkoswald Avenue.
Historically, returns on this strip have been good, even during the current slowdown the rest of Australia is experiencing. For any property purchased five or more years ago, even a low confidence estimate of value will reflect an increase in the millions of dollars.
The who’s who of the Golden Mile
Many famous residents of Mosman’s Golden Mile have come and gone over the years, comprising of a mix of celebrities and corporate identities.
Radio star Kyle Sandilands is one notable resident renting a property along the strip. He divides his time between Mosman and a property in the Southern Highlands.
Local media also lists Hopetoun Ave as being home to mining mogul Travers Duncan, who owns four properties in a row, the latest of which cost a reported $6.35 million.
Sydney FC Owner David Traktovenko has a home on the Golden Mile said to be worth well over $13.5 million (the price he paid for it in 2005). The chair of Racing Australia John Messara is another neighbour you may bump into if you had a similarly prestigious address, as is iconic Australian artist Ken Done.
While there’s no confirmation of a purchase, it was reported even David and Victoria Beckham expressed an interest in purchasing on Hopetoun Avenue during their 2018 visit to Sydney for the Invictus Games.
Popular surrounding areas
You can expect to pay top dollar along the Golden Mile, even for properties that need an internal facelift. Recently, a Burran Avenue home sold for over $14 million, despite having 1980s decor throughout the home.
If you’d like a lower price tag or would prefer to live somewhere less ostentatious, consider the close-by residential streets Parriwi Road, Stanton Road and The Grove. These addresses will put you close to Balmoral Beach and on the water side of Mosman.
With equally impressive views, Beauty Point to the west overlooks the inner harbour. Falling within Mosman’s 2088 postcode, this location commands price tags often in excess of $6 million.
While the Golden Mile is considered the gold-standard for property, the truth is any street in Mosman is an enviable address.
