A Brighton lawn owned by the co-founder of Catch Group has sold for $17.7m.
The co-founder of online retail giant Catch Group has sold a Brighton lawn for more than $17m — but taken a multimillion-dollar cut to their hoped for price in the process.
Hezi Leibovich and wife Lina put a pair of neighbouring Glyndon Ave addresses on the market earlier in the year with a $22m-$24m asking price.
Records show they paid $19.75m for the double block back in 2019 — before bulldozing the house that had been on the property.
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Sales records show the 2564sq m allotment sold for $17.7m several months after it hit the market.
Catch Group was founded in 2006 and provided deals for a variety of products via the website Catch of the Day.
It was bought out for $230m by Wesfarmers in 2019, but in January this year the retailer announced it would cease to trade as a stand-alone business from late in 2025.
The Glyndon Ave address isn’t the only high-end Melbourne address with an owner willing to sell up, even at a loss, rather than face ongoing heightened land tax and vacant residential property tax bills from the state government.
The bare block of land is surrounded by elite homes, pools and tennis courts.
Catch of the Day co-founder Hezi Leibovich (right) has sold a Brighton block of land for less than he paid for it — when it had a house on it.
Real estate agents and buyer’s advocates from Toorak to Portsea, and Brighton in between, have mentioned the common gripe among sellers throughout the past two years, since land tax bills were increased as part of a bid to recoup Covid-era budget blows.
While a reduction for the Leibovich family, it’s one of the bigger results for a Brighton block of land since Grant Hackett and his wife bought an $8.5m patch of dirt in Mulgoa St in spring last year.
Kay & Burton director Matthew Pillios handled the Glyndon Ave listing but declined to comment on the sale, the owners of the property or what had motivated the sale.
However, he did say that the Brighton market had “definitely picked up” in 2025 as buyers were “coming to play again”.
“A lot of turnkey homes are selling,” Mr Pillios said.
He noted there had been string results up to $8m, and even a few sales in the $10m-$20m range across the latter half of the year.
A render of the potential new home included in advertising for the address.
A property that used to stand at the address, before being bulldozed.
Mr Pillios said there was also growing confidence from buyers in properties needing construction or renovation work done.
“Buyers now aren’t so worried about building industry uncertainty,” he said.
Glyndon Ave is home to some of Brighton’s top properties, with other homes currently listed for $17m-$18m at No. 19 as well as $13.8m at No. 10.
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