Since the rise of reality TV at the beginning of this century, the general public has always had a fascination and special place in their hearts for the viewing of property porn (excuse the grotesque buzzword).
For the last two decades Aussies have enjoyed the spectacle, but despite a booming real estate market, the country itself had never produced its own version – until now.
After a mega-successful debut season in 2021, Amazon Prime’s Luxe Listings Sydney has returned for a second season, and so too has our favourite real estate personalities and their flamboyant teams.
With season one of Luxe Listings Sydney premiering on Amazon Prime in the heat of Canberra’s Covid lockdown fiasco last July, I, like many others, became hooked on the reality real estate program right from the get-go.
With season two premiering at the beginning of April, I once again (embarrassingly enough) found myself enthralled in the viewing of the show’s antics.
Striving to mimic the success of American shows like Million Dollar Listings and Selling Sunset, Luxe Listings Sydney approaches the precipice in the blending of ‘drama’ and ‘reality’.
Pitting Sydney’s top real estate agents against one another, the coliseum for their battles takes place in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, as they all contend for the biggest slice of the pie.
‘Drama’, beautiful views, stunning homes, and great vibes, that’s what the backbone of this show is.
This series follows three of the city’s most elite agents: Gavin Rubinstein, D’Leanne Lewis, and Monika Tu (new addition to season two), as well as buyer agent Simon Cohen, as they negotiate multi-million dollar deals in arguably Australia’s most hyper-competitive and cutthroat real estate market.
The series also gives the audience an insight into the personal lives of the three agents as they tackle parenthood, dating, friendship quarrels, and not to mention the countless bougie social events they attend.
The actual real estate portion of the show is highly entertaining and gives a breath-taking insight into how the top 1% live, with the properties featured being outright astonishing.
Admittedly, a fair percentage of the show consists of the agent’s self-promoting dribble. The worst offender being Simon Cohen. For Cohen, acquiring properties for his clients is seemingly his second priority, as his main passion in life seems to be centred on himself.
Cohen expresses the undertones of a borderline egomaniac through the ‘lapdogs’ he surrounds himself with in his workplace, who seem to be employed for the sole purpose of pumping his tyres. In the few spare minutes he finds to actually focus on his business, he low-balls the other agents & leaves the property empty-handed.
Look beneath the pretentious top layer and under all that glitz you’ll find a group of highly functioning, strong-minded, driven individuals.
Yes, it may be seen as ego, arrogance, and production as they mince around Sydney’s beautiful eastern suburbs in hot cars, loafers, skivvies, and tailored suits – but gosh does it make for great viewing.
I can’t say I’ve ever binged a real-estate show, but I did with this. The picturesque properties were the obvious highlight, and as much as I carried on and spat chips when it was happening, the drama incorporated in the program (even though I’m sure the timing of it was scripted) added immense value and entertainment to the series.
At the end of the day, with episodes clocking in at around the 40-minute mark, Luxe Listings Sydney is the perfect light-hearted reality program for people looking for irresistible bite-size entertainment.
All six episodes of season two have been released and are ready to view on Amazon Prime.
Great news for fans of the show as the season three release date has been set for October this year.
Photos by Ethan Perry