Anthony Albanese makes $500,000 profit on the sale of his Canberra apartment

Anthony Albanese has made a tidy $500,000 profit after offloading his Canberra ‘bachelor pad’ as he encourages baby boomers to sell their homes.

Anthony Albanese has made a tidy $500,000 profit on the sale of his Canberra apartment as he prepares for life in the Lodge and encourages baby boomers to divest of assets to help first home buyers get into the market.

Putting his money where his mouth is, the Prime Minister sold the property last month with the same real estate agent he purchased the property for 23 years ago for $162,000.

The property was sold at an auction with three registered bidders for $662,500 on August 20.

“I’ve sold my Canberra property. I have a home in Sydney that I am in the process of moving things out of, I haven’t made a decision about that yet, and I have a rental property in Sydney,’’ he said.

“It was sold at auction a couple of weeks ago.”

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Anthony Albanese (pictured with partner Jodie Haydon) has made $500k profit on the sale of his Canberra apartment

Albanese bought the humble apartment for $162,000 in the 90s. The sale comes as he encourages baby boomers to offload their assets to help first homebuyers get into the market

The Prime Minister has amassed a $5 million property portfolio from his humble beginnings in public housing and he also owns his $2.5 million Marrickville house mortgage-free, according to new financial records lodged with parliament.

He only has one mortgage on a third investment property in Sydney.

When you include his two taxpayer-funded homes – the Lodge in Canberra where he is based, and Kirribilli in Sydney – he now has access to four residential homes.

Mr Albanese also scored a huge pay bump after the election, and now earns $564,356 – before allowances – after he secured a 2.75 per cent salary increase on July 1.

Mr Albanese’s climb up the property ladder began in 1990 when he bought his first home in Marrickville for $146,000.

Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison has previously had a dig at Mr Albanese’s property wealth in parliament.

“The leader of the Opposition has bought plenty of homes,’’ he said.

“He’s bought plenty more than I have. Good for him. Good luck to him. We celebrate success.”

Albanese still has access to four residential homes despite offloading the Canberra apartment (above)

The disclosure paperwork surrounding the Prime Minister’s financial affairs, which was lodged on August 23, reveals that the only property that he has a mortgage for is an investment property in Dulwich Hill with the Commonwealth Bank.

Mr Albanese owns a Federation bungalow in Sydney’s Marrickville worth some $2.5 million, which he bought for $997,500 in 2006.

Seven years ago he also purchased an investment rental property in Dulwich Hill worth around $1.9 million, that he bought for $1.175 million in 2015.

Australian pensioners will be encouraged to downsize and free up their larger homes for younger families under a potential new law.

News.com.au previously revealed Labor leader Mr Albanese claimed $17,169 in travel allowance from taxpayers to stay at his mortgage-free Canberra apartment for 59 nights during Sydney’s marathon lockdown while staging “guerilla” campaign missions into Queensland and Tasmania.

He claimed travel allowance for 74 nights in Canberra, Queensland and Tasmania, while Parliament was only sitting for 19 days during the same period.

By basing himself in the nation’s capital during the lockdowns in NSW and Victoria, Mr Albanese was able to campaign in Queensland while the Prime Minister remained largely locked down in Sydney and unable to travel.

Now that he’s based in Canberra at the Lodge as his home base he can’t claim TA in the nation’s capital but can claim when in Sydney or elsewhere.

The humble two-bedroom apartment has skyrocketed in value since Albanese bought it.

Labor will on Wednesday introduce a Bill to parliament that would give age pension recipients more time before the proceeds from the sale of their homes affect their pension payments.

Under the new Bill, the assets test exemption would be extended to 24 months for principal home sale proceeds, with an additional 12-month extension available in extenuating circumstances such as a natural disaster

“We don’t want people putting off downsizing to a more suitable home because they are concerned about the impact it could have on their payment rate and overall income,” Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said.