Australia’s leaders have a history of luxurious mansions, but Anthony Albanese’s recent splurge of $4.3 million on a beach house puts him in the more extravagant category for a sitting prime minister.
The country’s former prime minister has homes worth far more than the cliff-top home in Copacabana that the Albanian bought in September, but most he bought after leaving office.
Some continue to live in more modest properties they bought long before they took the country’s top jobs, even though they are located in suburbs where home values have soared in recent decades.
A survey of the private residences of the past nine prime ministers revealed properties with current values ranging from $2.25 million to $150 million.
Read more: The bold move that gave Albo an $8.8 million real estate empire
Anthony Albanese’s new home has ocean views. Photo: Realestate.com.au
For the astute, the average Australian home is currently worth around $850,000.
It was revealed this week that Mr Albanese bought his Copacabana clifftop home last month and plans to move in soon. Houses with pools are located near the beach.
A comparison of the current Prime Minister’s new home with that of his predecessor is as follows.
scott morrison
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been spotted leaving his Sydney home. Photo: Gay Gerald
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The home is currently worth around $2.25 million, with Albo’s predecessor Scott Morrison living in a Sutherland Shire home he bought with his wife Jenny in 2009 for $920,000. It is estimated to be approximately twice as large.
Tony Abbott
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s family home, photographed in 2013. Photo: Jeremy Piper
Albanese’s new home is much more expensive than Tony Abbott’s Northern Beaches home, which he has owned since 1994. Mr. Abbott paid $351,000, with an estimated value of about $2.47 million.
Mr Abbott bought a holiday home in the mid-north coast town of North Arm last year for $1.73 million.
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Malcolm Turnbull
Mr Turnbull’s Point Piper home is estimated to be worth about $150 million.
Malcolm Turnbull retains the former prime minister’s most prized residence, a Tuscan-style mansion in Sydney Point Piper, the country’s most expensive suburb.
The waterfront property is the only property in the area with direct access to Lady Martin Beach and is estimated to be worth approximately $150 million.
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It’s on a peninsula surrounded by some of the world’s most expensive homes, including a multi-story, 24-bathroom home currently listed by “Aussie John” Symonds for $200 million.
Mr Turnbull bought the house in 1994 for $5.45 million, considered an astronomical price at the time, and later carved out part of the adjoining property to extend the waterfront.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull leaves his home in Point Piper. Photo: Stephen Cooper
Double Bay agent Brad Pillinger, who is handling the sale of John’s Australian mansion, said Mr Turnbull’s waterfront home was likely worth more than $150 million.
“It’s a 2000 square meter property, beautifully finished and the only home (in the neighborhood) with access to Lady Martin’s Beach and a full pier and boathouse,” Mr Pillinger said.
No wonder Mr Turnbull was one of the few prime ministers to avoid Kirribilli House and The Lodge and remain in his private residence during his three-year term.
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd is another 21st century prime minister who owns more expensive homes.
Lane bought the house in 2020.
The Sunshine Beach home was on the market in 2021 for $20 million.
The former Queensland-based premier and his entrepreneur wife Therese Lane bought a seven-bedroom beach house in the Noosa area in 2020 for $17 million.
It’s unclear exactly how much this home, once owned by tennis ace Pat Rafter, is worth, but it was listed in 2021 for $20 million, and considering the local area’s huge home price appreciation in recent years, , it probably would have been more expensive than that.
Mr Rudd and Mr Lane were familiar with the Sunshine Coast property market prior to their purchase, having previously purchased a $3.1 million property near Castaways Beach.
john howard
Former Prime Minister John Howard’s Wollstonecraft mansion, photographed in 2007. Photo: Graham Crouch
Former prime minister John Howard, Mr Rudd’s opponent in the 2007 election, lives in the Wollstonecraft home he bought in 1974 for $54,000. Comparable sales suggest its value is approximately $4.5 million to $6 million.
Mr Howard used the Commonwealth-era stately mansion to help his son gain a foothold in Sydney’s property market in 2006, when he rented out his home to guarantee an inner-city home.
paul keating
Homes in Potts Point could be worth more than $20 million.
Labor stalwart Paul Keating, who was prime minister from 1991 to 1996, lives in a terrace in Potts Point that he bought for $1.7 million in 1999.
Jason Boone of Richardson & Wrench, a prolific sales agent in the area, said the property, located near the water, would be valued at about $20 million or more.
He said the four-storey terrace had undergone “one of the best renovations in Potts Point”, adding that the area had become significantly more gentrified since Mr Keating bought the house. .
bob hawk
Former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s residence in Northbridge, Sydney. Photo: Brett Costello
Bob Hawke (right) and his wife Blanche d’Alpuget. On the golf putting green installed on the roof of my home. Photo: Dennis Lutzow, Public Relations Officer
It is well known that the late Bob Hawke lived with his wife Blanche d’Alpuget, a writer, in a high-rise mansion in the North Shore suburb of Northbridge. He bought it in 1991 for $1.23 million and sold it for $9.2 million in 2019, shortly after his death.
Julia Gillard
Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, bought a four-bedroom seaside bungalow in Adelaide with her then-partner Tim Matheson shortly after leaving office in 2013.
The purchase price was $1.85 million.
An automated valuation of the property by CoreLogic, based on recent comparable sales, shows the property’s current value to be approximately $2.1 million to $3.22 million, with $2.65 million as the most likely value. Fixed.
CoreLogic said this was a “low confidence” rating given the lack of comparable sales in the region in recent months.
Ms Gillard confirmed in 2022 that she had split from Ms Matheson the year before. She splits her time between England and Adelaide, while he reportedly spends much of his time in regional Victoria.
Records show Ms Gillard’s beachfront home has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, ocean views and an “award-winning” solar-powered and gas-heated pool.
Gillard previously owned a more modest property in the Melbourne suburb of Altona.
Shortly after purchasing the property, Ms Gillard sold her previous home in the Melbourne suburb of Altona. She bought a modest three-bedroom Altona home in 1998 for $140,000 and sold it for $913,000.
Anthony Albanese
Before purchasing the Central Coast property, the jewel in the Prime Minister’s real estate portfolio was a house in Marrickville estimated to be worth more than $2.6 million.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outside his then Marrickville home in 2021. Photo: Flavio Brancaleone
The three-bedroom house with a pool is on the same street as Mr Albanese’s first home and subsequent investment property in Marrickville, which he bought in 2006 for $997,500. It was his home for a while, but it has been rented out since 2022.
– With additional reporting by STEPHEN NICHOLLS
