Toorak’s Coonac mansion topped the list of Victoria’s most expensive houses in the 2024-25 financial year. Picture: Instagram/@melbournehousespotters
New and old rich-listers splashed an eye-watering $540m-plus on Victoria’s 20 most expensive homes of the past 12 months.
A record-busting sale reported to fall between $115m to $135m for Toorak mansion Coonac topped the pile.
It was also the nation’s biggest deal for the 2024-25 financial year although industry sources indicated the transaction likely fell at the range’s lower end.
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Other Toorak listings clocked up individual circa-$70m and $40m sales.
Elsewhere, luxurious pads in Canterbury, South Yarra, Brighton and the Mornington Peninsula scored eight-figure sales.
But it was the circa-1867 Italianate mansion Coonac that smashed Melbourne’s $80.88m benchmark.
Industry insiders linked the off-market sale to Kay & Burton managing director Ross Savas and chair Gerald Delany.
While it’s not been officially confirmed, billionaire Dennis Bastas was widely tipped to have purchased Coonac.
Coonac was sold by Essendon Football Club boss Paul Little and University of Melbourne chancellor Jane Hansen.
Mr Bastas runs a healthcare empire through his leadership roles at Arrotex Pharmaceuticals, myDNA and DBG Health.
Mr Savas said the upper end of the Melbourne market has remained resilient.
“Many are taking a generational view — prioritising long-term security, lifestyle alignment and legacy over short-term market fluctuations,” he said,
“At the same time, favourable economic conditions, including the low Australian dollar, continue to attract international interest — particularly from expatriates and global buyers looking to establish roots in Melbourne.”
2-4 Macquarie Rd, Toorak, was among Victoria’s top sales in the past 12 months.
The luxurious six-bedroom mansion at 2-4 Macquarie Rd fetched a figure in the vicinity of $70m shortly before Christmas.
Automation platform Neota chairman John Lord and his wife Sue sold the home where visitors are greeted with a sweeping marble staircase, and are likely to enjoy a dedicated basement cinema or the home’s temperature-controlled wine cellar and tasting room.
Forbes Global Properties’ Michael Gibson handled the listing – along with another $40m Toorak pad that changed hands off market.
Mr Gibson said there was often multiple buyers for homes prices at $10m to $30.
“The premier market over the past year has been as strong as ever … one thing we are short on is properties to sell,” he added.
Buyers flew in from interstate and overseas to inspect the Macquarie Rd mansion.
When it came to luxury features it wasn’t uncommon for homeowners to want double-level basements for entertaining, exercising and storing car collections, said Forbes Global Properties director Robert Fletcher, who oversaw a $29m Toorak deal in March.
“I think people who have a large amount of cars tend to look for space for between six to eight cars,” he said.
Forbes colleague, senior associate Tracy Tian Belcher said some buyers were more hesitant to buy amid uncertainty about many cuts will be made to Australia’s official cash rate across the second half of 2025.
Ms Belcher said that even if clients were quite well off, the 13 hikes interest rates across the nation between May 2022 and November 2023 had affected many of them – while reporting on current economic conditions could impact people’s emotions.
“Last year, one of my buyers was involved in a six-month long negotiation process for a Toorak home,” Ms Belcher said.
This Toorak house changed hands for $40m.
Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Antoinette Nido and colleague Max Ruttner oversaw a $25.6m South Yarra transaction in December.
“Look at me addresses” were important to many recently cashed-up buyers, Ms Nido said.
“What’s notable is that a lot of young business people who have made money in IPOs are doing very well,” she said.
“People who you have never heard of will call and when you ask how much they want to spent, it can be $40m to $50m.”
Marshall White group sales director John Bongiorno said demand in the Melbourne prestige market’s top end had consolidated in the past 12 months as the city’s population boomed.
“I think that there are more buyers in the $10m-plus category,” Mr Bongiorno said.
“The amount of people out there with substantial wealth, it’s a far bigger than what it was 12 months ago, two years ago, five years ago.”
Marshall White handled the $30m-plus sale of a French Provincial-inspired Canterbury house boasting a 16-car showroom, eight bathrooms, a cinema and day spa with a sauna in March, listed by agents Andy Nasr and Marcus Chiminello.
The impressive Canterbury pad has a 16-car showroom.
Many top-end buyers were taking a long view, prioritising the security, prestige and practicality of homes over price movements, Kay & Burton Stonnington director Darren Lewenberg said.
“These aren’t short-term flips, they’re generational homes,” Mr Lewenberg said.
Many homes that transacted had been fully rebuilt or renovated by architects and interior designers well before being listed.
“Buyers at this level don’t want to lift a finger. They want to walk in and start living,” Mr Lewenberg said.
Set on a 2140sq m block that’s home to a heated swimming pool, in-built trampoline, vegetable patches and tennis court, 27 St Georges Rd, Toorak, transacted for about $29m.
Industry Insider Property founder and prestige buyers agent Andrew Date said the surge in off-market deals was one of the most notable shifts in 2024–25.
“Most of the biggest sales never hit the portals. They’re done over lunch, through networks, and only involve a few key people,” Mr Date said.
“These homes are so rare, they’re not just about location, but land, architectural pedigree, and lifestyle.”
Mr Date said prestige demand had also crept further afield especially towards the Mornington Peninsula.
Additional reporting by David Bonaddio
10 Highgate Hill, Toorak, features underground parking for six cars, a home theatre, bar, wine cellar and gym. It sold for $19.3m.
VICTORIA’S MOST EXPENSIVE HOME SALES, 2024-25 FINANCIAL YEAR
Coonac, Toorak
Price: $115m-$135m
Agents: industry sources linked the off-market sale to Kay & Burton’s Ross Savas and Gerald Delany.
2-4 Macquarie Rd, Toorak
circa $70m
Agent: Forbes Global Properties’ Michael Gibson
Address withheld, Toorak
$40m
Agent: Forbes Global Properties’ Michael Gibson
38 Monomeath Ave, Canterbury
circa $30m+
Agents: Marshall White’s Andy Nasr and Marcus Chiminello.
27 St Georges Rd, Toorak
circa $29m
Agent: Forbes Global Properties director Robert Fletcher
177-181 Walsh St, South Yarra
$25.6m
Agent: Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty Antoinette Nido and Max Ruttner
5 St Ninians Rd, Brighton
$23m
Agents: Marshall White’s Ben Vieth and Andy Nasr
Inside 4 Grant Ave, Toorak, that was formerly owned by the family behind Australia’s Myer retail dynasty. It sold for $19m.
10 Struan St, Toorak
$22m
Agents: Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello and Nicole French
Address withheld, South Yarra
$21.2m
Agency: Withheld
12 Lansell Rd, Toorak
$21m
Agent: Kay & Burton’s Gowan Stubbings
7 Gawith Court, Toorak
circa $20-22m
Agents: Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello and Nicole French
3520 Point Nepean Rd, Sorrento
$20m+
Agents: Kay & Burton’s Liz Jensen and Gerald Delany
6 Macquarie Rd, Toorak
circa $20m
Agents: Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello and Nicole French
10 Highgate Hill, Toorak
$19.3m
Agent: Kay & Burton’s Oliver Booth
4 Grant Ave, Toorak
$19m
Agent: Forbes Global Properties’ Mike Gibson
8 Robertson St, Toorak
$19m
Agent: RT Edgar’s Mark Wridgway
3786 Point Nepean Rd, Portsea
$19m
Agents: RT Edgar’s David Gillham and Ilze Moran
11 Berkeley Street, Hawthorn
$18,888,999
Agents: Jellis Craig’s Perry Zhou and Elsa Li
14 Grandview Grove, Hawthorn East, is a Victorian-era residence featuring an outdoor dining area with a barbecue and second alfresco dining area with wood-fired stone pizza oven, 15m-long pool and spa and a self-contained two-storey pool house.
11 Kent Court, Toorak
circa $18m
Agents: RT Edgar’s Tim Brown and Sarah Case
14 Grandview Grove, Hawthorn East
$17.5m
Agents: Marshall White’s James Tostevin and John Bongiorno
444 Musk Creek Road, Flinders
circa $17.5m
Agency: Forbes Global Properties
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