Top celebrity property sales across Melbourne in 2025

1 day ago 6

From sporting royalty and media stars to retail billionaires, 2025 was the year Melbourne’s biggest names quietly cashed out and shattered property records.

As much of Melbourne’s mainstream market slowed, celebrity and high-profile sellers moved decisively.

The defining sale of the year came in Toorak.

Former Toll Holdings chairman and Essendon Football Club powerbroker Paul Little, alongside University of Melbourne chancellor Jane Hansen, sold the historic Coonac estate on Clendon Rd in an off-market deal tipped between $130m and $150m.

The sale smashed Melbourne’s previous residential record.

It instantly became one of the most expensive home transactions in Australian history.

The deal set the tone for a year in which Toorak reasserted its dominance at the peak of Melbourne’s prestige market.
RELATED: Builders’ own Highton renovation nets huge sale price
Hidden Melb party palace eyes $2.7m+ sale

Shock Melb property set for big gains in 2026

Coonac on Clendon Rd, Toorak, headlined Melbourne’s 2025 celebrity property market with a record off-market deal tipped at $130m-$150m. Picture: Instagram

Essendon powerbroker Paul Little and University of Melbourne chancellor Jane Hansen sold Toorak’s Coonac estate in 2025.

Following the Chemist Warehouse/Sigma Healthcare merger, co-founder Jack Gance and his wife Evelyn secured a vast Lansell Rd holding.

Industry estimates place the transaction between $80m and $95m, underscoring the growing role of corporate liquidity in shaping the city’s top end.

Prominent Melbourne buyers advocate Cate Bakos said the year highlighted a clear split between prestige buyers and the broader market.

“When people talk about buyers at this level not worrying about interest rates or stamp duty, they’re really referring to those who can absorb those costs without being materially impacted,” Ms Bakos said.

PIPA Chair and buyers’ advocate Cate Bakos says Melbourne’s prestige market is a different world, with top-end buyers able to absorb costs others can’t.

Radio and TV personality Chrissie Swan was among the high-profile sellers shaping Melbourne’s 2025 celebrity property churn.

“That does create a different market to an extent, but it’s not uniform.”

Ms Bakos said aspiration continued to play a powerful role even at the top end.
“You still have buyers pushing into prestige where affordability and value absolutely matter,” she said,
“Increased certainty around interest rates encouraged buyers to commit to longer-term decisions rather than wait on the sidelines.”

Chrissie Swan sold her Hawthorn East home after a highly personalised renovation, as buyers prioritised quality and character in 2025. Picture: Sam Tabone

Chrissie Swan has sold her colourful Hawthorn East home. Picture: Christian Gilles.

The buyers advocate said the shift towards generational assets was becoming more pronounced.
“When people buy an exceptional family home, they’re often thinking in decades, not years,” Ms Bakos said.
“That applies to both downsizers looking for a forever home and upgraders establishing a long-term base.”

Former AFL chief Andrew Demetriou entered Melbourne’s 2025 prestige market with the listing of his Marcus Martin-designed Toorak home.

Andrew Demetriou’s Marcus Martin-designed home in Toorak hit the market with a $14.5m to $16.5m guide.

AFL executives also featured prominently in the year’s celebrity churn.
Former league chief Andrew Demetriou listed his Marcus Martin-designed Toorak home with a $14.5m to $16.5m price guide, while outgoing AFL boss Gillon McLachlan sold his Prahran residence for about $8m after trimming earlier price expectations, reflecting the more disciplined tone of the prestige market.

Ms Bakos said those results reinforced that buyers were prepared to pay for quality, but not without scrutiny.
“There’s been a recovery at the top end, but buyers remain highly selective,” she said.
“This hasn’t been an exuberant market.”

Dylan Francis, Jellis Craig Brunswick - for herald sun real estate

Whitefox Northside director Dylan Francis says Melbourne’s $10m-plus buyers increasingly want move-in-ready certainty over building.

The Simonds family estate at 43 Grant St, Malvern East, sold for about $12m in one of Melbourne’s biggest deals of 2025.

Whitefox Northside director Dylan Francis said the resilience of the prestige segment was being driven by a growing rejection of the cost and uncertainty of building.
“Families are doing the sums and realising that buying an exceptional, move-in ready home often stacks up just as well, if not better, than buying land and building,” Mr Francis said.

“Construction costs, long build times and the expense of renting while waiting had fundamentally changed buyer behaviour, particularly in the $10m-plus bracket.
“Buyers want certainty, they want to collect the keys and move straight in.”

That behaviour was evident across player and media sales.

Carlton forward Jack Silvagni joined Melbourne’s 2025 celebrity sales list with a pre-move sale in Mont Albert North.

Carlton forward Jack Silvagni sold his renovated Mont Albert North home for $1.99m ahead of his move to St Kilda, while Essendon defender Jayden Laverde sold his Ascot Vale property following post-auction negotiations.

Media figures were also active, with radio and television personality Chrissie Swan selling her Hawthorn East home following a highly personalised renovation, highlighting the enduring appeal of character-filled, well-executed homes even as buyers scrutinised price more closely.

Jayden Laverde who previously played for Essendon now plays for the GWS Giants Picture: Phil Hillyard

16 Roseberry St, Ascot Vale - for herald sun real estate

Jayden Laverde sold his Ascot Vale property.

Further east, Canterbury joined the prestige conversation with the sale of Alchemy House on Monomeath Ave for more than $30m, setting a new suburb benchmark and reinforcing the expansion of top-tier demand beyond the traditional golden triangle.

Lifestyle-driven celebrity sales shaped the Mornington Peninsula too.

Bec Judd was among the celebrity sellers driving lifestyle-led property moves across Victoria in 2025. Picture: David Caird

16 Wilson Rd, Arthurs Seat - for herald sun real estate

Bec and Chris Judd sold their Arthurs Seat retreat for $2.78m as the Mornington Peninsula’s celebrity market stayed in focus.

Bec and Chris Judd sold their Arthurs Seat retreat for $2.78m, while the family of Formula One star Oscar Piastri added another high-end Victorian purchase.
Interest also continued to surround the late Shane Warne’s Portsea estate, reflecting the ongoing pull of coastal addresses.

Mr Francis said off-market sales were one of the defining features of 2025’s high-end market, driven largely by privacy and flexibility around settlement terms.