"As our cities grow, it is vital that we design them to be as sustainable, healthy and liveable as possible. There is very strong evidence to suggest that we are going backwards on apartment design. Our current free market approach is delivering developers higher profits but leaving an enduring legacy of poor apartments which will have very negative impacts on our future."

The apartment-building splurge is starting to dampen prices, with Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra all recording declines in the first quarter, Domain Group figures show.

Tumbi Umbi has seen one of the biggest jumps in buyer demand in Australia, according to Realestate. com.au. The Central Coast hot spot is considered a “suburb on the rise” after recording the sixth most significant increase in demand for property across Australia and the fourth largest surge in NSW alone.