Canaccord Genuity banker Marcus Freeman buys in Portsea

Canaccord Genuity boss Marcus Freeman is set to emerge as one of the latest luxury home purchasers in the Victorian beachside enclave of Portsea.

Canaccord Genuity boss Marcus Freeman has bought the house above in Portsea southeast of Melbourne.

Canaccord Genuity boss Marcus Freeman is set to emerge as one of the latest luxury home purchasers in the Victorian beachside enclave of Portsea south of Melbourne.

The investment bank chief has splashed out on a designer home which is believed to have traded for more than $9m.

A private entity linked to Mr Freeman has put a caveat on a lavish Portsea beach house on Campbells Road. Peninsula Sotheby International Realty agent Rob Curtain did not return calls.

The home was once intended for Australian Community Media executive chairman Antony Catalano who in 2019, with wife Stefanie, paid a reported $5.6m to a corporate entity linked to property developer Peter Gibson.

But it became redundant in his pandemic-inspired shift to Byron Bay, when he decamped to from Melbourne to his luxury Raes on Wategos resort.

The beach house was briefly marketed in 2020, finding a buyer in a matter of days, ending up in the hands of the Healey family for $6.65m. The five-bedroom spread sports an oval-shaped swimming pool, al fresco dining area, tennis court and open-plan living area .

Demand has boomed for high-end property on the Mornington Peninsula recently, with a mansion in Sorrento sold for $30m – setting a new record for the area.

The new owner of the property, known as Westbank, is BGH Capital partner Ben Gray.

In November a 68ha property in Flinders, on the south of the peninsula, was sold for $27m while another Portsea home sold last year for $8.5m.

The home was previously owned by media executive Antony Catalano