Real estate: Tiny Sydney apartment in Birchgrove sells for $1.5million – $700,000 over asking price

The property that sums up Sydney’s runaway real estate market: Tiny one-bedroom flat with a VERY original toilet sells for $1.5MILLION – $700,000 higher than its listing price

  • Birchgrove apartment sold for $1.5million having earlier been listed at $750,000
  • Apartment has a bizarre clear toilet set with images of seashells on it
  • The average price of a home in Sydney was listed at $1.6million in 2021


A one-bedroom Sydney apartment with a bizarre clear toilet seat has sold for $1.5million – a staggering $700,000 over its asking price.

In what won’t come as a shock to many Sydneysiders trying to buy a home, the Birchgrove flat, in the city’s inner-west, sold well above its listing price at an auction on Saturday morning.

While the modest apartment has harbour views, it has just one bathroom and one carspot, and last sold for $600,000 in 2014.

The toilet is also questionable with a photo of the bathroom showing an unusual transparent seat with what appears to be seashells on it.

A one-bedroom Sydney apartment with a bizarre clear toilet seat (pictured) has sold for $1.5million – a staggering $700,000 over its asking price

While the modest flat has harbour views (pictured), it has just one bathroom and one carspot, and last sold for $600,000 in 2014

While the modest flat has harbour views (pictured), it has just one bathroom and one carspot, and last sold for $600,000 in 2014

The apartment had been listed with a price guide of $750,000 on February 4, The Guardian journalist Tamsin Rose tweeted after eyeing off the home for herself.

In January the average price of a home in Australia was $1,066,133, an alarming jump from the $851,000 price tag at this time last year, according to Domain.

But in Sydney the figure was $1.6million, a jump of $400,000 from the previous year.

It comes amid forecasts the nation’s dire rental situation is set to explode when Australia’s hard borders finally open for international visitors on Monday.  

Experts from Finder’s December RBA Cash Rate Survey say re-opening borders would trigger higher demand and higher rental prices.

The apartment (pictured) had been listed with a price guide of $750,000 on February 4

The apartment (pictured) had been listed with a price guide of $750,000 on February 4

The price of the small apartment (pictured) may not come as a shock to many Sydneysiders trying to buy a property

The price of the small apartment (pictured) may not come as a shock to many Sydneysiders trying to buy a property

‘Lots of younger Aussies decided to move back home while international students moved back overseas when the pandemic first hit,’ Sarah Megginson, Finder’s senior money editor and home loans expert, told Daily Mail Australia. 

‘But over the last 12 months, people began moving out again and that put pressure on rental prices. 

‘As the country starts to open up, we’re going to see that influx of new renters to inner city and university areas return, adding even more price pressure.

‘The rental market is already looking tighter in terms of vacancy rates than it did last year, and we expect that to continue.’

But there is some good news with National Australia Bank predicting Australian property prices will fall by about 10 per cent in 2023 due to the threat of rising interest rates.

House prices in Sydney have skyrocketed in recent years. Pictured is the Birchgrove apartment block

House prices in Sydney have skyrocketed in recent years. Pictured is the Birchgrove apartment block

‘With our view on rate hikes coming forward, we now expect the turning point in property prices to occur in the second half of 2022,’ the bank’s Quarterly Property Survey said. 

‘That sees a flatter outcome in 2022 and a slightly larger fall in 2023.

‘Overall, we see dwelling prices rising around 3 per cent in 2022 before a decline of around 10 per cent in 2023.’

NAB said it predicts property prices in Melbourne and Sydney will fall 11.4 per cent – with prices in Brisbane to drop by 6.4 per cent.

‘We expect this pattern to be evident across the capital cities, though for larger declines to occur in Sydney and Melbourne, while Brisbane and Adelaide see less significant declines,’ the bank said.