Key takeaways
- Australia 108 completed in 2020 and remains the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere at over 316 metres — the reputation is real and it still draws buyers by name.
- As at June 2025, remaining apartments were priced A$1,628,000 to A$3,739,000. The sub-A$800,000 stock that made it attractive is long gone.
- The honest read: you are now paying for the tower's reputation rather than its upside. Price already reflects the 2020–22 hype.
- Rental demand is genuine but yields have thinned for anyone entering at today's prices.
- Worth buying only if the address itself is the point. As an investment there are better entry prices elsewhere in Melbourne.
I wrote last year that Australia 108 had become a poor buy — that what remained was either overpriced or tightly held, and you were paying for the address rather than the upside.
That was right then. It needs updating now, because the stock has changed and one of the remaining apartments contradicts what I said.
Where it actually stands, August 2026
Four apartments remain out of 1,105. The building is effectively sold out — but the range is no longer what it was.
| Configuration | Size | From |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bed, 1 bath | 47 m² | A$610,000 |
| 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car | 126 m² | A$1,500,000 |
| 3 bed, 3 bath, 2 car | 172 m² | A$2,380,000 |
A year ago the cheapest thing left was A$1.63 million. There is now a one-bedroom at A$610,000. By the test I set in the original article — under A$800,000 and you are doing better than the 2020–2022 buyers — that apartment passes.
I am not going to pretend my earlier position covers it. It does not.
What I still think is true
You are buying an address, and you should know that. Australia 108 is the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere, 100 levels, Fender Katsalidis, on the Southbank riverfront. The reputation is already in the price. There is no rediscovery story here.
Yields are thin at the top. At A$2.38 million for a three-bedroom you are buying a home with a view, not an income asset. If the numbers have to work, they will not work there.
Resale competes with 1,100 neighbours. In a building this size your apartment is one of many similar ones whenever you want to sell. That caps how far a good apartment can separate itself from an average one.
What changed my view on the entry apartment
A 47m² one-bedroom at A$610,000 in a completed Southbank tower is a different proposition from a A$1.6 million three-bedroom.
It is completed, so you can inspect it. No settlement risk, no valuation gap in three years, no floorplan that reads better than it lives. You see the actual apartment, the actual light, the actual view from that level.
It is still open to you as a foreign buyer. Unsold developer stock in a finished building counts as a new dwelling under FIRB, so the 2029 established-dwelling ban does not block it. An apartment being resold by its owner in the same tower would.
Rent starts the month you settle. That is worth more in a flat market than a growth forecast.
What I would still check before buying it
- Which level and which aspect. In a 100-storey tower this is most of the value. A low floor facing a neighbouring building is not the same asset as the brochure
- The owners corporation levy. Buildings with pools, gyms and concierge at this scale carry real quarterly costs — get the actual figure, not the launch estimate
- Whether short stays are permitted. Since January 2025 a Victorian owners corporation can ban them by 75% vote, and as an overseas owner you have no exemption
- Total cost. 8% foreign purchaser duty plus ~5.5% general duty — around A$82,000 on A$610,000 — plus FIRB, plus the absentee owner surcharge annually
If you are not set on the address
My honest view is unchanged for most buyers: there are better places to put A$600,000 to A$900,000 right now, mainly because you get choice rather than the last four apartments in the building.
- Verdé, Southbank — 56 of 115 available from A$632,000, completing 2028. Small building, Arts Precinct address, and you can pick your stack
- Atlas Melbourne — 269 of 900 available from A$500,000, completing 2029. Widest choice of anything I deal with
- Aria Melbourne — 78 of 184 from A$855,000, completing Q4 2027
All three let you choose. Australia 108 lets you choose between four.
So do I recommend it?
For the three-bedrooms, no — not as an investment. Buy those only if you want to live there and the view is the point.
For the one-bedroom at A$610,000, it is worth a look, and I would not have said that a year ago. Completed, inspectable, immediately rentable, in the most recognisable residential building in the country. Just go in knowing you are buying a finished asset at a fair price, not an undervalued one.
If you want me to look at the specific apartment
Tell me your budget and whether this is investment or somewhere you will use. I will get the exact level, aspect and outlook of what is left, the current owners corporation levy, the full cost including every Victorian surcharge, and a net yield.
Then I will tell you whether it beats Verdé or Atlas at the same money. Often it does not — but with four apartments left, it is worth the twenty minutes to find out.