A weatherboard cottage in the Newcastle, New South Wales suburb of Islington has sold for close to AU$2 million (roughly £1.05 million) in what agents are calling a near-record result for the area. The buyer's own words, relayed by the selling agent, cut to the heart of the transaction: "you're not buying the house." This was a sale of dirt, position and future development potential, with the existing dwelling treated as little more than a placeholder on a highly desirable parcel of land. For UK property professionals, the coincidence of the suburb's name — sharing its identity with one of London's most expensive boroughs — is almost too neat, but the underlying lesson translates directly across both markets and deserves serious attention.