Sydney versus the world

Scoring Sydney property on the international playing field

In 2015, when home prices sky-rocketed, everyone took stock of what they loved about Sydney afresh. Some cashed in and down-sized, while others asked hard questions about what tied them to the inner-city. Had Sydney gone up-scale for life?

With overseas buyers in the mix, bidders went in pursuit of hot lifestyle factors. Those feel-good intangibles that help to create a cool emerging hood or hip family hang.

Aussies just love using overseas reference points to describe their tastes in lifestyle, culture or decor. Colloquially people often say, ‘this suburb is like the Meat Packing District 10 years’ ago or this place reminds me off ‘Santa Monica in the 80’s’. Last year, people started saying the Cross would emerge as a mini-Manhattan circa 2026.

Yet real lifestyle intangibles come from local food culture, ethnic diversity, appealing architecture and the impact of natural surrounds. So how do Sydney’s top suburbs compare with other luxury markets around the world?

To find out, in our ‘Sydney versus the world’ series we pitted Sydney suburbs against similar neighbourhoods overseas. We went digging to uncover what the same money can buy you in East London, Hong Kong Island, The Hamptons, East Berlin, Venice Beach and Central Stockholm.

Jump to:

Dalston vs. Redfern

Wan Chai vs. Darlinghurst

The Hamptons vs. Palm Beach

Mitte vs. Surry Hills

Venice Beach vs. Bondi Beach

Vasastan vs. Elizabeth Bay

What to read next?

Global flair, at home in Sydney
Global flair, at home in Sydney
17th Aug 2023 - Global
In between displacement
In between displacement
7th Jun 2017 - Global
The Collector
The Collector
15th Mar 2017 - Global
Colour & comfort
Colour & comfort
3rd Feb 2017 - Global