Sydney's 'Villa Florida' Is On The Market

Offering true waterfront, 12 Tivoli Avenue, Rose Bay, Sydney – built-in 1928 – is set across 1290sqm and is ready for sale.

Enjoying an extensive refresh courtesy of acclaimed architect Michael Suttor, the three-storey, 7-bedroom, 9-bathroom, 4-car parking residence – affectionately named ‘Villa Florida’ – offers an elusive street-to-waterfront property with views of Sydney Harbour.

Suttor and his team restored the home beyond its former glory, making use of its architectural features – such as the arched windows, a pitched cathedral ceiling, wrought iron balcony details and a jaw-dropping spiral staircase – drawing a line heightened levels of ‘European’ luxury.

The home sees a manicured courtyard area usher you into the approx. 930sqm home. Inside, the residence is replete with a combination of parquetry flooring, travertine limestone tiling and sandstone finishes alongside Venetian plastering finished in beeswax.

On the lower ground floor sits the billiard room, family room and kitchen, fitted with European appliances, granite benchtops and custom cabinetry.

Also on the lower ground floor are two bedrooms, each complete with an ensuite, accompanied by a further bedroom and access to the terrace.

Up the aforementioned spiral staircase to the ground floor lands the master suite which features a walk-in-robe and ensuite with access to a private balcony and the sunroom providing further water views through the arched windows. A further two bedrooms are also found on this level.

Elsewhere, on the ground floor, arrives the formal dining and living, complete with a working stone fireplace and another kitchen – with finishes coordinating with the downstairs offering.

Throughout the expansive residence, the nine bathrooms feature mosaic tiling and travertine limestone flooring with granite details.

Upstairs further to the first floor sees a further two bedrooms and a library that is accompanied by a large sandstone terrace that has capacity for 200 people.

Outside, the sandstone adorned pool loggia arrives with a bathroom and chef’s kitchen. Here, the terraced gardens guide you down to the water’s edge allowing the owner to soak in the best of what Sydney has to offer.

The listing is with Black Diamondz Property Concierge’s Monika Tu (+61 409 898 888) and Jad Khatta (+61 432 669 287). Price guide $45 million.

Blackdiamondz.com.au

The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.

Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”

Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.

The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.

But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.

Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.

“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”

Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.

Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”

Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.

Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.

Sydney’s ‘Villa Florida’ Is On The Market

This historic waterfront pile could now be yours.