Residential properties with a tennis courts had an increased volume of sales last year as people explored lifestyle changes due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, research from Knight Frank has revealed.

An analysis of the sales performance of Australian super-prime residential properties, defined as the top one per cent of each market by value, found there was $682.8 million in sales across 38 transactions for homes with tennis courts in 2020 – an increase of 230 per cent from 2019.

The Knight Frank research found 23 per cent of super-prime residential sales last year were properties with a tennis court, with these locations commanding a price of 22 per cent higher than super-prime properties without tennis courts.

Knight Frank’s head of residential research Michelle Ciesielski said the average price of super-prime properties with tennis courts rose by 1.6 per cent to $18 million in 2020, with Sydney the strongest performing market.

“In 2020, Sydney saw $436.6 million of tennis court-featured super-prime sales across 22 transactions, although this total volume fell short by 3 per cent of surpassing its highest volume reached in 2018,” she said.

“Melbourne was next with $134.6 million worth of sales last year across nine transactions, although its greatest volume was recorded in 2016 at $156.2 million.

“Perth’s super-prime sales market recorded the greatest uptick of 453 per cent in properties with tennis courts over 2020, although that was across only two sales totalling $41.5 million, with the market much smaller than Sydney and Melbourne. Perth didn’t record any sales of this nature in 2016 and 2018.

“The Gold Coast lifestyle became more popular through COVID-19 resulting in last year being the only year in the past give to register any super-prime sales accommodating tennis courts, with a volume of $50 million – outperforming both the Brisbane and Perth markets, which recorded $20.1 million and $41.5 million in sales value.”

The average land area for a super-prime property with an outdoor tennis court was 2,870 sqm, based on sales occurring between 2011 and 2020.

Knight Frank’s national head of residential Shayne Harris believes tennis court properties became much more sought after in 2020 following COVID-19, with people forced to stay at home for long periods of time.

“Australians transformed the way they lived in 2020 due to COVID-19, with the role of the home expanding to become a place of work, education and vacation due to periodic lockdowns during the pandemic,” he said.

“Our research conducted a few months into the pandemic found 66 per cent of global residential buyers listed outdoor space as the top factor to be considered when choosing a home, and we have seen a corresponding rise in interest in super-prime properties with tennis courts.

“Sales numbers for tennis court super-prime properties grew three-fold in 2020 from the 14 sales in 2019 and are still significantly higher than 2018, when there were 25 sales in total and 2017 and 2016, which each had 24 sales.”

Of the super-prime properties with a tennis court sold in 2020, 94 per cent also had a swimming pool and 11 per cent were located on the waterfront with direct access to maritime facilities.