Two sides of Rose Bay. Two very different markets.
On one side, Sydney Harbour — New South Head Road, the foreshore and the streets rising above the water, where the best homes trade in Sydney’s prime residential market. Move east and Rose Bay reaches toward the ocean, adjoining Dover Heights, North Bondi and Vaucluse. One postcode, several markets — and October’s sales show exactly how wide the gap runs.
Houses remain the standout.
Current market data puts the Rose Bay property market house median at approximately $6.4 million, with house values showing 21.4% annual growth over the latest reported 12-month period. Four-bedroom houses carry a median of about $6.45 million. The overall unit median sits considerably lower, at approximately $1.825 million — and units overall recorded a 1.6% decline over the past year, even while two-bedroom apartments managed 4.7% growth. Three-bedroom apartment statistics are weaker again.
That split — strong houses, soft units, and variation inside the unit market itself — is why suburb-wide averages mislead in a suburb holding such different property. Recent analysis identified Rose Bay as one of only a handful of Sydney suburbs where house prices kept rising through the broader downturn.
October’s results, $685,000 to $6.55 million.
October’s sales and settlement records run across a remarkably broad range — an older apartment under $1 million trades streets away from houses worth $6 million and well beyond. That spread is Rose Bay’s signature within the wider Eastern Suburbs property market.
| Property | Record | Detail | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Albemarle Avenue | Settlement | House — the month’s top recorded settlement | $6,550,000 |
| 87 Chaleyer Street | Sold 22 Oct | 4-bed, 3-bath on c. 225sqm; $3.8M auction guide, sold prior; last traded $1.575M in April 2015 | Withheld |
| 4/2A Dumaresq Road | Settlement | Apartment | $3,400,000 |
| 1/64 Chaleyer Street | Sold Oct | 2-bed, 2-bath with two parking — same price as November 2021 | $1,925,000 |
| 3/48 Chaleyer Street | Sold Oct | Apartment — $1.23M in May 2021 | $1,410,000 |
| 6/11–19 Newcastle Street | Sold 14 Oct | Renovated 1-bed with parking | $1,020,000 |
| Manion Ave · Balfour Rd · Iluka St · New South Head Rd | Settlements | Apartments across the suburb’s entry tier | $685,000–$1,215,000 |
19 Chamberlain Avenue, a substantial 4-bed residence on c. 696sqm, also sold during the month. The 87 Chaleyer Street price remains withheld until settlement — it would be wrong to speculate how far above or below the $3.8 million guide it sold. Withheld prices are never estimated here.
The Chaleyer Street lesson: selection matters enormously.
Two apartments, a few doors apart, bought within six months of each other in 2021 and both sold this October. One grew $180,000. The other changed hands for exactly the same nominal price, almost five years later. That is not a story about Rose Bay apartments — it is a story about individual property selection.
Open circle — prior sale. Filled cognac — October 2026 result. The 3/48 move is roughly 2.5% annualised before acquisition and selling costs. Recorded transfers from public property records; hover any point for the date.
One postcode. Several buyer markets.
Properties shaped by views, aspect, elevation, land size and proximity to the water. For the best homes, the comparison isn’t the Rose Bay median — the same buyer is also looking at Vaucluse, Bellevue Hill, Point Piper and Darling Point. Part of this suburb trades in Sydney’s prime harbour market, where scarcity outweighs suburb statistics.
The eastern streets connect Rose Bay with Dover Heights, North Bondi and the coastal lifestyle — a different buyer, a different comparison set, and a different rhythm from the foreshore. For anyone buying property in the Eastern Suburbs, understanding these micro-markets matters as much as the suburb name.
From older one-bedders under $1 million to renovated two-bedders near $2 million and premium apartments beyond $3 million. October’s records show every tier trading — at very different speeds.
There is no single property market — not in Sydney, and not even inside Rose Bay. Houses are up 21.4% on the year while units overall slipped; two apartments in neighbouring buildings just produced five-year outcomes $180,000 apart; and the suburb’s best homes answer to Point Piper money, not the local median.
So for an owner thinking about selling a property, the question is not “what has Rose Bay done?” It is “what are buyers paying today for properties genuinely comparable to mine?” Answering that takes location within the suburb, land, views, aspect, building quality, parking, floorplan, condition — and above all, recent comparable transactions. After four decades selling these streets, that is the only number I’d act on.
What the data can — and cannot — say.
Suburb medians are statistics, not valuations. A 21.4% house-growth figure does not translate directly into the value of any individual home — composition, land and position move each result.
87 Chaleyer Street sold before auction on 22 October against a $3.8 million guide, and the price remains withheld. Until the consideration is public after settlement, speculating above or below the guide would be wrong — so this review doesn’t.
October’s evidence mixes exchanged sales and recorded settlements — settlements reflect contracts agreed weeks or months earlier. Both are shown, labelled, and never blended into a single average.
Your home isn’t a median. Price it like it isn’t.
I have sold on both sides of Rose Bay since the mid-1980s — more than 1,000 properties across Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. If you want to know what buyers are paying today for homes genuinely comparable to yours, I’ll show you the transactions, not the averages. You can also request a property appraisal based on current comparable sales.
Market information current to 29 October 2026. Sale prices and property information are based on publicly available property records and advertised sales data; price-withheld transactions have not been estimated. Suburb statistics from current reported market data. Commentary is Alan Weiss’s professional assessment, not financial advice.
