Prime Minister Anthony Albanese snaps up $4.3m Copacabana home
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dropped $4.3m on a home for he and future wife Jodie Haydon.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has dropped $4.3m on a home for he and future wife Jodie Haydon.
Mr Albanese snapped up the clifftop home at Copacabana on NSW’s Central Coast last month.
2GB’s Ben Fordham revealed the sale and claimed the PM exchanged contracts in September, with settlement expected before the end of October.
“Enjoying one of the most commanding positions on the clifftop of Copacabana yet within easy walk of the beach, this large architecturally designed home has uninterrupted ocean and Sydney skyline views from all levels,” the listing reads on realestate.com.au.
“A premiere location to enjoy sun, whale watching or spectacular sunsets year-round.”
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The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home was sold for $1.7 million in 2017 before being picked up by the current owners in 2021 for $4.65 million.
The property has been on the market for almost a full year, with Mr Albanese picking it up for more than $300,000 cheaper than what the current owners paid three years ago.
The Copacabana pad also features timber lined cathedral ceilings, open-plan living and dining spaces, a large downstairs guest room or children’s play area with bathroom, an additional north-facing entertaining deck bathed in sunlight, a huge double garage with internal access, and a turning bay.
“I’m about to get marred to Jodie and start a new chapter of our lives,” Mr Albanese told Fordham.
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“Jodie’s a ‘coastie’ and spending time with her up there is awesome.
“It will be nice to be closer to her parents and her family one day.”
News of the purchase follows Mr Albanese pulling his investment property in Sydney from auction at the weekend.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse at 29B Lewisham St, Dulwich Hill, bought for $1,175,000 in 2015 was due to go under the hammer at 11am on Saturday with a $1.9m guide.But the first sign that all was not going to plan was on Wednesday when a call to the sales agent, Shad Hassen of The Agency Inner West, revealed he was dealing with just one serious buyer who was “being a bit cute with the price”.
That buyer came back for another look on Thursday, but with “no firm commitment” by 11.30am on Friday, Hassen and Mr Albanese decided the best option was to pull the property from auction and put an asking price of $1.85m on it.
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“They’re still interested and we’re still negotiating with the young couple, but there’s been no firm commitment yet,” Hassen said.
“Albo and I have decided that it’s best not to waste time, it’s definitely worth the money and we’ll be having people come take a look at it over the weekend if we put an asking price on it.”
The PM was no doubt happy to avoid the media circus of a public auction, with the listing of his property igniting discussion of the tax benefits he’s received.
The fact that the PM is having trouble offloading the property, despite its “sensational attention to detail” and “eye-catching finishes”, comes as no surprise in the increasingly difficult spring market.
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Albanese is selling the property because he wants to simplify his financial affairs ahead of his married life with his fiance, Jodie Haydon.
But his serving of an eviction notice on his longtime tenant, Jim Flanagan amid the ongoing cost of living crisis and housing crisis, caused a stir.
Mr Flanagan, 45, has lived in Anthony Albanese’ inner west rental home for the past four years.
Mr Flanagan said the eviction “hit him like a steam train”.
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But Mr Albanese said he had been “more than fair” to the tenant with below market rent during Covid and ever since, and added that Mr Flanagan had not been co-operative with the property manager.
Mr Flanagan denied that claim, saying: “He has every right to seek to sell his assets.
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“But it just doesn’t sit well when, on one hand he’s trying to be sympathetic with the majority of Australians who are, like me, finding the current climate extremely challenging.”
The Prime Minister dropped Mr Flanagan’s rent to $680 during Covid, and had not raised it since.
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Originally published as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese snaps up $4.3m Copacabana home
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