Supersize Me: why supersized apartments are all the rage

Second bedroom now your wardrobe? 

Dinner on the couch because there’s no space for a dining room table?

Showering over your toilet?

Sure, the examples above may be a tad extreme.

But if any of that sounds vaguely familiar, it’s likely you’ve sacrificed space for the perfect location.

Don’t worry, you’re certainly not alone. There’s nothing quite like stepping out of your door in to the pulsing heart of a hip and happening suburb.

However, if the latest trend is anything to go by, buyers increasingly want the best of both worlds. They no longer want shoebox living in exchange for location, location, location.

This could explain why developers and agents have noticed demand for apartments five times bigger than the average, with the same attention-to-detail and quality as a luxury home. 

The demand is so overwhelming, it’s prompted developer Manors Gate Group to reconfigure two floors of its ‘Hawthorn Club’ project into two supersized apartments.

The development was originally 64 apartments. 

It’s now has 48 dwellings, as a number of owner-occupier purchasers have decided to merge two or three one-bedroom apartments to create a single residence.

This begs the question - why not just purchase a four bedroom home?

According to the Manors Gate Group, owner-occupiers are searching for a low-maintenance and secure lifestyle.

“What we are seeing is the emergence of a wealthy downsizer market comprising of high-net worth individuals and couples who are looking to upgrade and replace their empty, family home with a lifestyle that’s better suited to their current circumstances” Manors Gate Group Director Ricky Phoon says.

With a price tag of $2.25 million, the 200 square metre apartments come with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, large livings spaces, outdoor entertaining areas and views of Hawthorn.

And it seems like the trend is continuing, with developers and agents reporting sales of multi-million dollar off-the-plan apartment have more than doubled in the last year, especially in affluent suburbs such as South Yarra, Toorak and Glen Iris.

“Apartments and penthouses are increasingly becoming the typology of choice with this new breed of super apartment offering all the lifestyle benefits of a hotel – from both an indulgence and convenience perspective – on the size and scale of a trophy house and in the same upmarket location,” Mr Phoon says.