PHOTO: Some of our biggest celebrities rocked the real estate world this year with jawdropping purchases and sales.
It’s been a busy year for celebrities buying and selling homes, with a declining market failing to stop Australia’s rich and famous from snapping up multimillion dollar mansions.
From spectacular mega mansions to weekend retreats and investment properties, we take a look inside some of the country’s most extraordinary celebrity sales this year.
REBEL WILSON
Actor Rebel Wilson sold a Birchgrove home she had purchased in 2015 for about $9.5m this year, netting about $5.7m more than she paid for the property.
Rebel Wilson sold an inner west property. Picture: Getty Images
The Birchgrove home with water views.
The three-level home on Louisa Rd overlooks the Parramatta River. Architect Paul Conner oversaw a major rebuild after the actor purchased the property.
The sale concluded in August was the fourth highest within the plush inner west suburb on record.
Wilson’s investment company also purchased a four-bedroom property earlier in the year.
SIMON BAKER
Simon Baker being interviewed by Allegra Spender, Federal Member for Wentworth, earlier this year. Picture: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
The property was described as a rainforest haven.
The Mentalist star spent around $6m for a property between Bondi Beach and Tamarama that was marketed as a “tropical rainforest haven”.
The three-bedroom property has views of Bondi Beach. Baker’s purchase followed the 2021 sale of the Bronte property he shared with ex-wife Rebecca Rigg for $17m.
GLENN MCGRATH
McGrath had owned the home since 2006.
Fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath sold a Cronulla property off market for $8.25m.
The cricketer, who retired with 563 wickets in 124 Test matches at the incredible average of 21.64, bought the property while still playing for the national team in 2006, reportedly paying about $5.25m.
McGrath listed the property in 2012 for $5m-plus but the property did not sell at the time. The 3400sqm home has a fully equipped boatshed.
ASHES Tour 2005 – 5th Test – Australia v England at The Oval. At the end of the England innings Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne leave the field for the last time in an Ashes in England. Picture: Phil Hillyard.
KYLE SANDILANDS
Breakfast radio host Kyle Sandilands paid $3m for a new home in Glenorie in Sydney’s Hills District in the middle of the year.
Kyle Sandilands paid $3m for the property.
Sandilands had previously rented in the eastern suburbs.
It was reported soon after the purchase that Sandilands intended to build a Hamptons-style home on the 9580sqm acreage. The block adjoins a reserve.
Kyle Sandilands nabs $14m home for NEW baby boy
The home had been a $1200 per week rental during the pandemic.
Sandilands and partner Tegan Kynaston were renting a Bellevue Hill home for about $8000 a week.
JENNIFER HAWKINS
Jennifer Hawkins and partner Jake Wall bought a Terrigal property in an off market sale for about $6m.
Jake Wall and Jennifer Hawkins bought in Terrigal.
The couple had previously sold this Newport home to billionaire Mike Cannon Brookes.
The 3.3ha holding, which comes with a seven-bedroom old-English style manor, and has rolling lawns down to Avoca Lake, also known as Avoca or Bulbararing Lagoon.
The couple had previously sold a Newport property known as Casa Paloma to billionaire Mike Cannon Brookes for more than $20m.
KERRI-ANNE KENNERLEY
TV personality Kerri-Anne Kennerley spent $13.7m on a property on the Double Bay harbourfront.
Kennerley had previously been living in Woollahra. Picture: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
She bought on the Double Bay waterfront.
She had sold her longtime Woollahra home in 2021 on delayed settlement terms. She had been in the suburb for 25 years.
Kennerley had told friends of her long-time Woollahra pad: “If I get a silly price, I’ll consider it”. The property ended up selling for $22m, one of the biggest sales of 2021.
MIKE CANNON BROOKES
Billionaire and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon Brookes is no stranger to big sum property purchases.
The tech entrepreneur made history in 2018 when he paid $100m for the Point Piper mansion Fairwater, which remains Australia’s most expensive house sale to date.
He splurged on homes in Palm Beach and Newport in the years after.
Cannon Brookes’ land holding in the Southern Highlands bought this year.
The billionaire paid $100m for Fairwater in 2018. Picture: Damian Shaw
Cannon Brookes made an additional purchase this year, snapping up 57ha of farming land in the Southern Highlands for $8m.
The farm was reportedly bought with no registered mortgage, from the Bouchard family who had paid $1,205,000 in 2013. It has a 30-year-old brick veneer home, cattle yards, horse stables, three bay shed and two dams on its Orfords Road holding.
COLLETTE DINNIGAN
Acclaimed fashion designer turned interior designer Collette Dinnigan also made moves in the Southern Highlands.
Collette Dinnigan bought a Highlands cottage.
The Bowral-based Dinnigan, who recently opened a homewares shop in Mittagong, spent $2.85m on Argyle Grange in Robertson.
The three-bedroom cottage, set on a sheltered country road, came with an AGA in the kitchen.
It is surrounded by farmland on a 1.8ha block, which has a newly renovated studio and workshop amid its outbuildings. There are views towards Kangaroo Valley.
JANA PITTMAN
Olympian Jana Pittman bought a property in the Hills district for $4m after cashing in on a Beecroft home for $5m.
The Beecroft home Pittman sold.
The two level home in Castle Hill has five bedrooms and four bathrooms. There’s also a saltwater pool and entertainment space.
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