Residential property suburb records continued to happen across the region throughout 2022.
From the property market peak in the first half of the year to the downturn, record-breaking sales kept coming despite CoreLogic data naming Newcastle and Lake Macquarie among the fastest-declining property markets in regional Australia.
Here is a wrap-up of suburb records set in 2022:
Newcastle
A Merewether home opposite the beach set a huge new sale record for Newcastle in May.
Positioned on a 493 square metre block, the house on the corner of Berner Street and John Parade was understood to have sold off-market for $10.25 million.
Suburb records continued throughout the year.
A split-level house at 19 Kirkdale Drive, Kotara South set a suburb record in November when it sold for $1,405,000, topping the previous highest price of $1.29 million.
Cveta Kolarovski from Cveta Property said that "certain properties still attract high demand".
First National Newcastle agent George Rafty broke two suburb records in November.
He said that although the volume of buyers had fallen, quality homes still pulled in strong sale results.
"What it tells me about the market is that the right property is still attracting the right audience," Mr Rafty said.
"We have 20 to 30 per cent of the volume of buyers that we had last year but what I'm finding is that it might not be quantity with buyers, but it certainly is quality."
His most recent record was set in Adamstown when a modern four-bedroom house at 20 King Street sold for $3.3 million in November.
The previous residential record in the suburb was $2 million paid for the house next door (22 King Street) in June 2021.
The sale marked the second suburb record for Mr Rafty in less than a week in November following one in Hamilton South at 104 Kemp Street that sold for $4,050,000.
It cracked the previous record of $3.95 million paid for a renovated three-bedroom, two-bathroom property at 213 Parkway Avenue in December 2021.
In September, a penthouse apartment at 801/1 Scott Street, Newcastle East set the suburb record for a residence when it sold for $8.3 million.
The three-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment offered uninterrupted views across the harbour, the beach and the city.
In July, Bar Beach scored a suburb record with the sale of a luxury home at 96 Memorial Drive.
The modern beachfront property sold to a local family for $6.9 million with Robinson Property's Michael Flook.
Mr Flook said the region's top-end market was still performing strongly.
"Whilst the market is tightening, life goes on. People buy and sell," he said.
"People appreciate quality top-end style properties and those properties that are priced sensibly will continue to attract relevant interest."
Fringe suburbs continued to prove popular with buyers.
A five-bedroom home at 38 Margaret Street on a 1037 square metre block set a huge record for Mayfield East in April when it fetched $1.75 million at auction, while in Georgetown a four-bedroom home at 4 Sparke Street with a self-contained granny flat sold for a record $1.65 million in July.
In February, Shortland joined the list with the $1.65 million sale of a lifestyle property set on 6023 square metres at 176A Marsden Street.
Built about 10 years ago, the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home boasted a six-person spa overlooking bushland, and a kitchen that won a Master Builders Association award.
Lake Macquarie
One of the most talked about properties in the region hit the market at Speers Point in October and pulled in a huge sale price that not only smashed the suburb record but also became the most expensive home in the Lake Macquarie region
Built across two blocks totalling 2087 square metres, the palatial home at 334 The Esplanade set a suburb record when it sold to a buyer from Merewether for $10 million.
The figure topped Belle Property selling agent Anthony Di Nardo's previous record set in July 2021 for the sale of the landmark property "The Knoll", also on The Esplanade, which sold for $3.6 million.
"When it comes to property, buyers of that sort of calibre know what they want," Mr Di Nardo said.
The property featured a curved polished concrete staircase and a spectacular indoor pool with a spa and a slide.
Also in Lake Macquarie, a luxurious Palm Spring-style waterfront home at Bolton Point smashed the suburb record in October.
The sale is believed to have reached a little over the $3 million asking price and beat the previous record of $2,675,000 paid for 18 Wattle Street in November 2020.
Selling agent Daniel McMahon from Home in the Hunter said the property at 8a Wattle Street attracted 228 enquiries.
"A suburb record is exciting at any time but particularly in this market, it is very special," Mr McMahon said at the time.
Glendale's $1.71 million record was smashed by the sale of an acreage home at 40 Reservoir Road in July.
The 1.88 hectare property passed in at auction before one of the three registered bidders negotiated a sale at its $2.4 million guide.
The transaction smashed the $1.71 million sum Newcastle Waldorf School paid for the neighbouring property in September last year, and was just the suburb's second sale of more than $1.3 million.
McGrath Newcastle City's Sean Redpath said the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home attracted strong interest from Sydney and Newcastle buyers despite cooling market conditions.
"Quality properties with properly-executed campaigns are still achieving great results," he said.
"The boom market of the last two years has definitely slowed, but quality properties sell well in any market."
In March, NRL legend Paul Harragon's five-bedroom home at Whitebridge set a suburb record when it sold to fellow ex-Knights teammate Adam MacDougal for $7,375,000.
LJ Hooker Belmont's Josh O'Doherty, who co-listed the property with Shelby Telfer and PRD's Mark Kentwell, Chasse Ede and Nathan Hunter, said interest in the campaign was "incredible".
"Every indication of price was going to be a record ... no matter who we sold it to it was going to be a record and to sell it above $7 million was incredible," Mr O'Doherty said.
Avery Property's Paul Avery set the Toronto suburb record in March with the $4.7 million sale of a modern home on the waterfront at 149 Brighton Avenue.
Cameron Park cemented its position as a rising market when a five-bedroom home at 226 Northlakes Drive sold for a record $1.49 million in May, only to be pipped in December when a state-of-the-art home at 20 Beluga Drive sold for $1.9 million.
Wangi Wangi drew a string of huge sales in 2022, beginning in January with 74 Beach Road which sold for a record-breaking $2,295,000.
Another two homes sold above $2 million before the suburb record hit $3 million in September following the sale of a luxurious five-bedroom, three-bathroom residence at 185 Watkins Road.
A suburb record was set in Rathmines following the $2.45 million sale of a one-bedroom waterfront cottage set on a huge 1796 square metre block at 79 Fishing Point Road in September.
The property's price tag topped the previous record of $2.4 million.
Maitland
A grand five-bedroom residence on two acres at 16 Elizabeth Street, Telarah set the suburb record when it sold for $2,550,000 in March, smashing the previous record of $860,000.
Properties on large blocks in East Maitland pulled in big sale figures in 2022, including a grand home on 5785 square metres at 7 Wilton Drive that sold for a record $2.55 million in June.
A four-bedroom home at 38 Swiftwing Close, Chisholm set the record for the highest figure paid for a residential property in the suburb when it sold for $1.89 million in August, smashing the previous record of $1.6 million set in March this year.
Port Stephens
The year started off with a bang in Port Stephens following the record-breaking $7,275,000 sale of a four-bedroom home at 24 Thurlow Avenue.
The price blitzed Port Stephens' two-week-old benchmark - $5.85 million for 52 Kingsley Drive, Boat Harbour - and also doubled Nelson Bay's previous sale record of $3.6 million for 47 Christmas Bush Avenue, which was set in November 2021.
A suburb record was set at Soldiers Point in May when $7.6 million was paid for a 100-year-old cottage on a massive waterfront block.
The property at 23 Soldiers Point Road, Soldiers Point, had been in the same family for 90 years and included the four-bedroom cottage, a one-bedroom granny flat and an original boat shed.
The major selling point of the property was the land - a 1668 square metre block on the waterfront.
Port Stephens' apartment record was also shattered in April when, within the space of just days, two Shoal Bay penthouses sold for $5.5 million and $5.25 million.
