Melbourne is often shadowed by Sydney when it comes to eye-watering sale prices, however, the city down South could soon be catching up. It’s the flashy suburbs of Melbourne’s East that steal the show when it comes to setting records as Toorak, where business juggernauts and celebrities rub shoulders, continues to take top spot for Melbourne’s most expensive suburb. This is largely due to its convenient proximity to the CBD, generous land sizes and neighbouring to high-end schools.
See the 8 most expensive sales in Melbourne of all time below.
Number One
$80,000,088 (rumoured $88m, not confirmed) – 29-31 St Georges Road, Toorak.
Auspicious crypto king Ed Craven, at the ripe old age of 27, holds the new record of Victoria’s most expensive house after the off-market and discreet deal of 29-31 St Georges Road was swiftly closed by Melbourne’s premier realtor Marcus Chiminello, who is responsible for multiple deals on this list. After Co-founding stake.com, of which is currently the shirt sponsor of Watford FC and heavily endorsed by Drake, Ed Craven hit the jackpot. Subsequently, he has splashed out in Toorak. The house itself is just a concrete unfinished shell, and has been dubbed as Toorak’s ‘ghost house’ after former Hoyts cinema owner Leon Fink never brought the house to completion. Due to this, it has the locals labelling Craven’s purchase as drastically overpriced.
Number Two
$75,000,000 – 17 St Georges Road, Toorak
The Victorian house record was smashed twice in one week, with the sale above occurring within days of 17 St Georges Road in Toorak. After offloading his hyper-successful MessageMedia company for $1.7 billion, Grant Rule was revealed as the buyer of the ‘Blair House’. The home is a fully renovated Georgian revival solid brick mansion boasting 10 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, complemented by the surrounding lush green lawns and gardens and a tennis court. Once again, behind this deal was Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello.
Number Three
$52,500,000 – 336 Glenferrie Road, Malvern ‘Stonnington Mansion’
The former Australian Government house that was controversially transferred to a private residence takes out the third spot on our list after art dealer Rod Menzies who purchased the home in 2008 for $17.5 million, offloaded the mansion to an Asian-based buyer for $52.5 million. The imposing mansion, built in 1890 consists of 6 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and is set in the heart of Malvern.
Number Four
$43,100,000 – 47 Lansell Road, Toorak
Set on a sprawling 3,311 square metres of land, 47 Lansell Road is a 5 bed, 4 bathroom luxury mansion on one of Melbourne’s premier streets. Some of the outrageous features throughout the home include a cinema room, three kitchens, pool, tennis court, gym, outdoor alfresco area with wood-fired pizza oven, teppanyaki grill and chicken rotisserie and all your standard touches that are expected with a $43 million price tag such as heated flooring, open fireplaces and a state-of-the-art security system.
Number Five
$40,500,000 – 21 Coppin Grove, Hawthorn
Dubbed as ‘Invergrowrie’, the 5 bedroom stone home sits on a whopping 1.11 hectare parcel of land. In addition to the already impressive mansion are two separate dwellings and a multi-purpose hall. There were recently multi-million dollar renovations undertaken on the property and the refurbishment on the tennis court. The deal was done directly, discreetly and without a representative agent.
Number Six
$40,000,000 – Morning Star, Mount Eliza
Previously used as a 20-room hotel. The vineyard estate is set on over a whopping 63 hectares of Mornington Peninsula soil. The buyer was revealed as Chemist Warehouse co-founder Mario Verocchi. The home attracted significant interest from all over the globe.
Number Seven
$39,000,000-40,000,000 – 18 St Georges Road, Toorak
The run-down 1920’s mansion at 18 St Georges Road was purchased by a Chinese-based buyer who paid more than $8 million in fees for the home, including 12.5% stamp duty. Set on a 4000 square metre block, the home has been clouded by mystery after it was dozed to rubble in 2020 following the $40 million purchase. The imposing high gates make it unclear whether construction has begun on the now vacant block.
Number Eight
$38,800,000 – Orrong Road (specific location undisclosed)
Elsternwick-based Kogan electronics founder Ruslan Kogan runs in at eighth on our list following his purchase of a $38.8 million mansion on Orrong Road, Toorak. The exact address is a well-kept secret and therefore little is known about the attributes of the home but we can imagine that for the price tag, the home is lavish.