Fancy living in a luxury apartment with spectacular city and river views? You’re in luck, but only if you have a spare $10 million or so handy. Sure, you’ll need to part with some big bucks but this kind of purchase would land you at the top of a very exclusive list.

Prior to the latest stunners, the most expensive apartment in Perth was a North Fremantle penthouse. It sold in 2007 for a cool $8.25 million. The ultra-swish pad, located within “The Moorings” complex, boasted 500sqm of living space and came complete with a private mooring. While the latest crop of upper-end apartments have river views rather than river frontage, it is a great indication of how far the top end of the market has rebounded.

So what makes these apartments so special? Let’s take a look inside.

Unit 6/23 South Perth Esplanade, South Perth - $12.6 million

Listing agent: Angus Murray

The first of the potential record breakers, and the most expensive, is a South Perth Esplanade grand penthouse that has been described by the agent as “effortlessly sophisticated”.

With an unobstructed view of the city skyline this two-storey apartment is modern, roomy and appointed with ultra-chic fittings.

Located within the exclusive SILK apartment complex this 576sqm penthouse is just a short stroll from some of the best cafe’s and restaurants in the city.

Unit 4/2 Bellevue Terrace, West Perth - $10.5 million

Listing agents: William Porteous and David Vitale

Located in the architecturally striking Miami apartment complex, this nautical themed apartment boasts a superb level of sophistication. Potential buyers can enjoy, among other things, three generous bedrooms, three bathrooms and a theatre room with all the technological trimmings. An extra sweetener is the on-site infinity pool (with arguably the best pool view in the city), spa, sauna, gym and a temperature-controlled wine cellar for those amongst us that enjoy a tipple. And the views of the river, city and Kings Park are simply breathtaking.

Unit 2/2 Bellevue Terrace, West Perth - $9.5 million

Listing agent: Mal Dempsey

Rounding out the list, this apartment, another Miami residence, may be a million dollars cheaper than its upstairs neighbour but it’s just as spectacular. With access to the same pool, spa and gym and sporting a palatial fit-out, this three bedroom, full second floor apartment covers all possible bases. With a generous 336sq m of interior living space, not to mention three balconies, it is simply deluxe - from the kitchen appliances right down to the light fittings.

If the hype surrounding the luxury property market is accurate these three properties will sell quickly. Where they’ll end up on the “most expensive” list is anyone’s guess but one thing is certain - apartments in Perth don’t get much better.

Feeling hot and frazzled? Want to know what's happening at your favourite beach? There’s a webcam just for you.

Here's some of Perth's best and most popular beachside destinations.  Most of them have a live feed.

Cottesloe. one of my favourite beaches ever.  This cam scans from the beach in front of the Indiana Teahouse back down towards Fremantle.  Watch everything from swimmers to cargo ships from your desk.

City Beach. This one’s at the City Beach Surf Life Saving Club. It’s a fixed camera that takes a still shot about once every second.

Scarborough. Complete with a surf report. This camera is a live feed. Watch people surfing while you work.

Hillarys Boat Harbour. Captured from a web cam located on the Harbour Manager's office. It has a North Westerly field of view and updates automatically every minute.

Trigg. Located on the tower at the Trigg Surf Life Saving Club. Updated every minute.

Trigg South.  From the same location as the Trigg Point cam but facing South West.

Swanbourne. This cam faces South West back down towards Cottesloe. There’s a live stream cam here.

Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour.  The view from the top of Marine House, Essex Street, Fremantle.

Sorrento. Live stream.  Beautiful part of the world.

If you want to dodge the traffic check out these webcams before heading off. There are lots to choose from courtesy of Main Roads WA. Each is refreshed every 15 minutes.

Here are a few of Perth’s traffic hotspots.

Kwinana Freeway near the Mount Henry Bridge. This is a real bottleneck so it’s worth watching.

Mitchell Freeway near Karrinyup Road. If you’re ever going to get stuck in traffic it’s here.

Corner of Barrack Street and Riverside Drive. Check this just before home time. It’s one of the keys to escaping the City quickly.

Mitchell Freeway near the James Street off ramp. If this looks scary consider exiting the Freeway at Grantham.

Don't forget, if you find a cool webcam leave a comment with the web address. We'll add it in.  

Renovating, it's not the bane of my existence. But it comes close. Make no mistake, I love the end result. The comments and compliments from friends and family, the sense of satisfaction. They all come together in a pleasant rush that melts away the hours of dust soaked toil.

Not that I like to get my hands too dirty. I'm the kind of guy that calls in the help. When I paint I follow the maxim that it's OK to go over the lines. They still teach that in kindy right?

Some of my friends are the exact opposite. They get renovating. Big time. It's in their blood. As a family they scrape and paint and get all messy and dirty. They stop to eat dinner with dusty hair and paint-spattered clothes. Then they start all over again. Late into the night they patch and paint and saw and chisel while their kids are sleeping and I'm happily enjoying a nice drop of red.

These friends amaze me. Their tenacity and grit are borne of the ANZAC spirit of courage, mateship and endurance. Maybe I've gone too far there but they are heartily committed.

But some people take renovating to a whole new level. They make even my friends look like amateurs.

These are the renovating masters, grand champions of the hammer and paintbrush. They're close to professionals. To these select few, renovation projects are tackled with the passion of an artist and the business acumen of a tycoon. They see opportunity where others see mess and beauty in bland.

They make makeovers look, well, easy, as if just anyone could do it.

Take Sasha deBretton-Gordon of Million Dollar Makeovers. Sasha started renovating homes at the ripe old age of 21. She has an uncanny knack of knowing what to do and when to do it. So good is Sasha she now makes a living out of organising other people's renovation. She's even started her own internet TV show! It's kind of like Renovation Rescue only more real.

Knowing that Sasha knows her stuff I just had to interview her. I wanted to get inside her head. To know what she knows. I wanted to know if I could become a renovation Grand Master, just like her.

I asked Sasha for her tips on preparing a home for sale. That's one of her specialities. She turns "tired and run down" into "sexy and cool". It takes her no time at all. It would take me a month of Sundays to do what she does in hours!

Here are Sasha's top tips.

• Create a point of difference. Appeal to the masses but use a feature wall or an amazing wallpaper to create some wow factor. 
• Females make the decisions. Be prepared to spend a bit more to create a stunning kitchen and bathroom. 
• Know your area. Don't do a cheap make-over in an upmarket area. 
• Watch your budget. Most people spend more than they need. There are lots of finishes that create visual impact without breaking the bank.  

Where was Sasha when we did our last renovation?!

Seriously though, I love renovating. Well I love the idea of it. But I know I'll never be a renovation guru of the ilk of Sasha deBretton-Gordon.

What I also know is this: if I were to sell my home I'd call a Sasha. Sasha and those other hammer-wielding Bunnings dwellers know their job. I build web sites, they renovate homes. They know what the market wants and they know how to get it done.

Something else I figured talking to Sasha and a myriad of agents over the years. Sometimes we're too close to our beloved family home to see things with clear eyes. The years of renovation and landscaping create an emotional investment that works against us when it's time to sell.

And that's the benefit of fresh eyes. Someone who can tell us that plum is to the nineties as mission brown was to the seventies. Or that clotted cream really is more than safe. It's boring.

Mount Hawthorn offers Perth's best housing lifestyle. That's the word from Leederville agent Barry Litten.

Barry didn't come down in the last shower. His career spans a couple of decades so he knows a thing or two - make that a lot - about Perth property. As auctioneer-in-residence at Property People, a boutique agency in Oxford Street, Barry has a canny feel for the subtlties of the Perth real estate market.

Here's what Barry had to say on the Property People fan page on Facebook: 

As reported in the Sunday Times this week, we can throw away the statistics because the people of Perth have spoken and a new list of golden suburbs has emerged!

West Australians have rated their favourite suburbs on Australia’s biggest property website and surprisingly it is not the exclusive pocket between the Swan River and Indian Ocean they love.

According to data compiled from thousands of votes across the nation on realetsate.com.au Local Voices, Dianella is the best suburb to live in, with a ranking of 99.423 out of 100, this was closely followed by Mount Hawthorn, Atwell, Stirling and Booragoon- all with rankings of 97 or more.

Mount Hawthorn was voted number 2 in Perth's Best Place to Live! ranked 98.516/100 with a score of 5/5 for Resale/Rental Value, 5/5 for Parks and Recreation, 5/5 For Eating out and highly recommended for families and kids.

He believes this vote of confidence should come as no surprise to those who own properties in Mount Hawthorn.

Over the last 20 years the transformation from a multicultural suburban backwater into a prestigious and sought after inner-city location has been impressive. 

Just 5 kilometers north of the CBD, professional couples and young families love the proximity to the city and freeway system as well as the popular cafe strips in Scarborough Beach Road and Oxford Street.

Zoned predominantly single residential, Mount Hawthorn is not over-developed like many inner-city precincts. It therefore offers a quieter lifestyle that attracts consistent interest from buyers.

 I share Barry's enthusiasm for the Mount Hawthorn. It's quiet, well-maintained streets and abundance of attractive character homes give it a charm that's hard to match. And the parks and amenities, including an abundance of nearby cafes and restaurants, make it an easy place to live.

Since Barry's post on Facebook the landscape has shifted. As of writing this Duncraig has taken the top spot. Dianella has slipped to second and Mount Hawthorn sits in fifth.

What do you think? What would you rate as Perth's best lifestyle suburb?  

According to the recently released  Australian Property Monitors’ Quarterly Housing Report Perth’s luxury home sales are breathing life into a sluggish local market. While all other Australian capitals posted all-time highs for annual house price growth, Perth had a modest increase of 3.1% in the final three months of 2009 - the highest since September 2006.

"While the First Home Buyer sector kept the overall market afloat through the end of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009, it's been the activity at the top end of the market that has driven the extraordinary overall result for 2009," said Matthew Bell, APM economist.

“The price growth seen in the more expensive suburbs in 2009 has largely been a recovery of the price falls that occurred since late 2007 and early 2008,” Mr Bell said.

The western suburb of Churchlands out-performed all others by posting a spectacular year end growth rate of 43.8% bringing the median priceto $525,000 - up $160,000. 

Other suburbs that performed well in 2009 included: 

Houses 

• Guildford - up 30.6 per cent
• Attadale - up 25.4 per cent
• Darlington - up 23.5 per cent
• Nedlands - up 5 per cent

Units

• East Fremantle - up 37.2 per cent
• Shoalwater - up 13.3 per cent
• Bayswater - up 12.6 per cent
• Como - up 12.5 per cent
• Mosman Park - up 10.8 per cent

According to Mr Bell, the market will continue its recovery this year, bolstered by upgraders and investors. “The medium- to- long- term outlook for property prices remains strong, as high population growth, rising incomes and a relative lack of new supply means there will simply be more demand for housing than supply.”

Demand for apartments in Perth’s Western suburbs is set to increase. That’s the word from Richard Young, Principal of prominent Western suburbs agency Caporn Young. He believes it’s a trend that’s driven by a ticking 'population clock' as baby boomers reach retirement age.

Retiring baby boomers favour apartment living as it offers a low maintenance lifestyle. The number of retirees in Western Australia is set to accelerate rapidly over the next decade.

Almost one quarter (23%) of Western Australians will be aged 60 years and over by the year 2021. Compare that with just 15% in 2001.

Traditionally, apartment developments have been concentrated in inner city areas. Not anymore. In recent years there has been an influx of apartments popping up in affluent suburbs such as Nedlands, Fremantle, North and East Fremantle, Mosman Park and Claremont.

Mr. Young claims that retiring Western Suburbs baby boomers are buying apartments close to their existing homes. They’re familiar with the area and have a network of local friends and family. And it’s a trend, he believes, that will drive the demand for apartment living in the Western suburbs over the coming years.

Moving into a new apartment is also an attractive financial option. New apartments are easier and cheaper to maintain than older properties. Retirees can sell their existing home and retain a significant profit after buying an apartment.

In particular, there will be a growing demand for quality developments with spacious units fitted out to a high standard. Recent sales of apartments to baby boomers by Caporn Young indicate that, while they may be down-sizing, they still want a high level of privacy and quality.

Units and apartments have performed well during the past year despite an overall correction in the real estate market. The median price for an apartment/unit in the Western suburbs rose by around 3.0% during 2009.

Anyone who is buying an apartment for lifestyle reasons should consider their choices carefully. Location is a key consideration when buying an apartment. Other issues to consider are veiws, the level of road noise, strata fees, rules regarding ownership of pets and number of renters in the development.

As we already half guessed, it has been confirmed that Australia has the world's least affordable housing, as measured by multiple of income, says a new report.

The wonderfully named '6th Annual Demographia International Housing Survery: 2010' cites Vancouver as the least affordable place in the world to buy property, where a typical house sells for 9.3 times the average annual income of the local population. Sydney comes in 2nd (9.1) followed closely by the Sunshine Coast (9.0) and the Gold Coast (8.6).

Melbourne slots in at number 7, Mandurah 14th and Perth 19th.

"Affordable" is deemed to have a median multiple of 3.0 or less, whereas scoring 5.0 or more is seen as "severely unaffordable".

Australia as a country comes in highest at 6.3. OUCH!

The U.S. market, with its downturn in prices over the past few years, has seen its affordability ratio drop to 3.2.

Australia, a relatively small country with far less urban areas than elsewhere, occupies one third of the 60 areas on the planet with "severely unaffordable" housing.

Should we be concerned about this? is this sustainable? an anomaly?

[You can download & read the FULL REPORT (pdf) here]

Guest Blogger, Mr David Airey, President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia and long term aussiehome.com client writes...

The Reserve Bank decision to leave interest rates unchanged today following three consecutive increases is GREAT NEWS for home owners. It's good to see that the RBA are listening to the markets and taking note of the downturn in lending.

The Real Estate Institute of Australia ("REIA") was critical of the RBA decision in December to lift official interest rates for the third time and are pleased to see them now taking a cautious approach.

REIA noted that increased interest rates reflects an improving economy, however another rate rise would have DAMPENED THE MARKET AND THREATENED CONSUMER AND BUSINESS RECOVERY. Four rate rises in as many months would have been too much too soon, especially since we do not yet have the full picture on December quarter economic activity or property sales. The reality of the market is that housing lending has dropped along with business loans and a month with no change is definitely what was needed.

Even more pleasing was to see all the economists and financial writers having to redo their prepared scripts on a rise in rates and the disappointment across their economic faces. I've been critical of those financial writers who actively encourage rate rises and fuel the focus on "price bubbles" and "inflation". I'm not (thank goodness) an economist. I'm a realistic and practical person who not only works at the coal face but I see and speak to estate agents and Australian home owners on a daily basis. I hear them telling me about the subdued market and reduced activity since the 3rd rate rise in December. And I'm starting to hear from an increasing number of first home buyers who are already struggling to meet increased payments.

The reality of the 3 rises plus the extra .25% that the banks added has resulted in an average 1% rise in rates since October. The average variable is around 6.5% still higher than many other countries and business rates – wow! Add 2 or 3 per cent.

What concerns me is the doom sayers who reckon that rates are artificially low. So what? Why do they need to be high? What's wrong with a booming economy and growth and a strong property market and full employment? Maybe these are the reasons I never made it through economics.

Other commentators such as Marcus Padley are worth quoting:

The RBA have surprisingly left rates unchanged at their meeting today.

Main reasons appear to be that:

·         Credit conditions are still "difficult" with businesses still struggling to find credit.

·         Global economic recovery is only "modest".

·         Inflation is not a problem.

·         Commercial banks have lifted rates more than official rates ... doing the work for the RBA.

·         The Chinese are tightening policy.

·         They have yet to see the impact of recent rate rises kick in.

·         Rates are on hold globally.

They do hint that they will raise rates in the future to ensure inflation is kept under wraps.

The suggestion already is that they are moving to a more cautionary stance and may well keep rates on hold now until proven necessary to raise them.

We may see rates on hold for some months. There is also concern that they have got the wobbles about sustained economic growth this year with China tightening a threat to Australian economic growth.

[ Credit for article: DavidAirey.com.au blog]

Newspaper headlines have been flying around recently touting "run away markets", "Perth market hot" and today’s "Perth median price soars over the $500,000 mark". Have we not learned our lesson from the previous boom? The higher the rise, the harder the crash? Is the market running hot, or is this just print media's love for exaggerated headlines to help sell papers?

We thought we would cut straight to the chase, and ask some real estate Principals how they saw it. They are, after all, out there in the field every minute of the day.

Interestingly, rather than perhaps the predictable "it's all great, hurry up and buy/sell with me", we received some very level headed replies…

Chris Shellabear, Principal of Shellabears based in Nedlands, makes the point that "general market comments generally do more harm than good". Indeed, "people must understand that these [property sales] statistics are a bit stale by the time they are touted – there is a time lag.  An Agent 'at the coal face' can give you a far better feel for the market than a Commentator and it is relevant to you as it relates to your Suburb or area."

Agents have indeed seen turnover increase (up from some pretty torrid lows) but this "is not to be confused with price increases". Chris Shellabear predicts a "traditional steady as she goes" property market. "Markets only go HOT when there is excess money supply –  with the events of the last 2 years this is clearly not the case." That said, "certain sections of our market place have been active, the $1-2 million bracket has been very active and, as some shortages there have occurred, recently you have seen a little bit of upward [price] movement.  The confidence created here has also crept upwards and we have seen turnover increase at higher price levels".

Another Chris, Chris Jonker of Nexus Real Estate (who operate 5 offices in the northern suburbs) also predicts "modest but stable growth throughout 2010 …  a return to a normalised market with a 'happy medium' between buyer & seller". Chris sees "good buying opportunities" in oceanfront and riverside locations ("Prices still below what they were 2 years ago"). 'Satellite cities' on the metropolitan fringe with "solid" infrastructure in place are also worth looking at, and investors (as always) should have a "5 to 10 year trend" in mind before investing.

"Overall", says Chris Jonker, "the property market has improved from early 2009, however we are still seeing caution from buyers at the top end, with many 'front row' properties … remaining on the market unsold. There have been 36 properties offered for sale on West Coast Drive in the last 12 months with only 6 selling."

Chris Shellabear agrees: "real estate is a long term commitment and rarely suitable for a short term trade so if you are a short term trading type of person you should look elsewhere for your fun.  This is a market for people doing all the normal things with their property, upsizing, downsizing , retiring “tree changing” etc , or keeping an eye out for that long term investment – I know I am."

We’ll be posting regular comments from our real estate clients in the coming weeks and months, and we’d be interested to hear from anyone who has a view on what they see out there in the property market…