Borrowing Against a Cremorne Investment Apartment

Cremorne is an apartment market first and a house market second, with 45% of households renting, so a lot of the stock here is held by companies, trusts and SMSFs as investments carrying very little debt against substantial harbourside value. You can usually get capital out of one of those without selling it, and the thing that makes an apartment different from a house is that we're assessing the building and the owners corporation alongside the unit itself.

Key facts for Cremorne (2090), 12 months to September 2026

• Median three-bedroom apartment: $2.055 million. Two-bedroom: $1.3975 million. One-bedroom: $835,000.
• Median four-bedroom house: $3.85 million. Three-bedroom: $2.795 million. Five-bedroom: $6.4 million.
• Apartments take 33 to 42 days to sell; three-bedroom houses about 42 days.
• Auction clearance runs 50% to 65% on houses and 56% to 68% on units.
• Population 11,229, with 45% of households renting.

What strata does to the assessment

The credit itself is the same as it would be on a house, so we'll go to 75% of value counting any existing bank loan and ours together, over 6 to 36 months, to a company, a trust with a corporate trustee, an SMSF, or an individual where the loan isn't regulated by the National Credit Act, for business or investment purposes. The wider version of what we're actually assessing when we look at security applies here too, it's just that with strata there's a building and an owners corporation sitting behind the unit.

What changes is that we read the strata report and the owners corporation records rather than taking them on trust, because an unfunded remediation levy, a thin capital works fund or a live defect claim is a liability attached to your lot whether or not it shows up in a desktop valuation, and a valuer who knows about it will mark the unit down, which moves the amount you can borrow. Getting the strata search in early is the most useful thing you can do to make one of these run quickly.

A worked Cremorne example

Say a trust owns a three-bedroom Cremorne investment apartment worth about $2.055 million with $780,000 owing to a bank, and it needs $660,000 behind that loan to fund a business acquisition.

Now suppose the strata search turns up a special levy the owners corporation has struck but not yet funded, and the valuer adopts $1.95 million instead. The cap falls to $1,462,500, the bank's $780,000 stays where it is, the most we can write behind it becomes $682,500, and the same $660,000 facility now sits at 73.8% with only $22,500 of room.

The exit matters more than the headroom does, because rent won't repay a short-term facility, so something dated has to, and on this deal that's either a refinance of the whole position into a bank once the acquired business has a trading history, or a sale of the unit on your own timetable.

How quickly does a Cremorne apartment sell?

Faster than most of the lower north shore, since apartments take 33 to 42 days and clear at 56% to 68%, but the market has turned all the same, because after three rate rises in early 2026 Sydney house values fell 3.3% in the June quarter, clearance hit 48% and a record 29.3% of auctions were withdrawn, so Cremorne is holding up better than the city without being separate from it and four months is a safer assumption than four weeks.

What actually settles here

No private mortgage settled against a Cremorne property in the 90 days to August 2026, though five settled across northern Sydney in that window, one each in Neutral Bay and Willoughby East, two in Ryde and one in Frenchs Forest, from $250,000 to $3.28 million, being two business investments, a refinance, a purchase and a construction line.

Nationally 196 settled in the same 90 days, 115 first mortgages and 81 seconds, at a median loan of $765,500, with 82% of security residential property held by people who aren't in any trouble. The purposes ran refinance 55, purchase 42, working capital 39, business investment 26, construction 19, debt consolidation 10, bridging 3 and subdivision 2, so most of this is a business owner releasing capital.

What Vía Private lends on

What we will not do

We don't do consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act, so if the apartment is where you live and the money is for something personal then we're not the right lender. We don't fund construction or development, and we don't lend against vacant land or pre-DA sites. We won't lend where there's no credible exit, and we won't lend against a valuation we haven't tested, which on strata means reading the owners corporation records rather than taking them on trust.

Questions people ask

Can I borrow against an investment apartment I want to keep? Yes. The facility is secured over the unit and does not require you to sell it, written as a first mortgage from $1 million to $20 million or a second from $500,000 to $7.5 million, with total debt inside 75% of value and a dated exit.

How does strata title affect what I can borrow? The lender assesses the strata report and the owners corporation alongside the valuation. An unfunded remediation levy, a depleted capital works fund or a live defect claim can reduce the value adopted, and the facility is sized off that value.

Who can borrow? Companies, trusts with a corporate trustee, SMSFs, and individuals where the loan is not regulated by the National Credit Act. The purpose must be business or investment, not personal or owner-occupied.

How long does it take to sell an apartment in Cremorne? Apartments take 33 to 42 days on Domain data for the 12 months to September 2026, with auction clearance between 56% and 68%.

What happens if I can't repay at the end of the term? The facility is extended or refinanced and interest keeps accruing on a larger balance, which is why the exit is assessed more closely than anything else. Ask for the rollover fee and the default margin before you sign.

Getting a Cremorne scenario looked at

Most of the scenarios we see come through accredited mortgage brokers, so if you're already working with one, send them this page and they can put it to us. If you'd rather come to us first, email begin@viaprivate.com.au with the property, the amount you need, what it's for and how you plan to repay it.

Nearby: Mosman · Cammeray · Northbridge · Willoughby · Balgowlah Heights

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Figures are indicative and for illustration only. Median values are Domain suburb data for the 12 months to September 2026. Market commentary is from the Domain House Price Report, June quarter 2026. Settlement counts are from a private lending panel covering 196 mortgages funded nationally in the 90 days to August 2026. Transfer duty is calculated at Revenue NSW 2026-27 rates. Vía Private lends to companies, trusts and SMSFs for business and investment purposes only and does not provide consumer credit regulated by the National Credit Act. This page is general information and does not take your objectives or circumstances into account. Last reviewed 13 September 2026.