Why those seeking the best turned their attention west
Perth was a hive of activity among some of the biggest names in business doing substantial property deals in 2024.
Perth’s nation-beating luxury residential compound on the Swan River at Mosman Park has shrunk.
Mineral Resources billionaire co-founder Chris Ellison and wife Tia have sold one of the five self-contained residences on their Saunders Street estate.
For a time it was the most expensive compound in the country.
The recent $5.4m homebuyer has emerged as venture capitalist Lachlan Clough and his wife, Ella who have been based in Sydney’s Paddington for the past six years.
Their 10-day settlement paperwork was registered after its sale late last year through Jody Fewster of Ray White.
The six-bedroom, four-bathroom 1980s Spanish-style hacienda on 826sq m last changed hands in 2014 at $5m, showing subdued growth over the decade since the West’s last property boom.
The 31-year-old Clough family scion heads Marbruck Investment – the venture capital group that mostly invests in technology.
The house sits a few doors along from where the Clough engineering family built its limestone estate on The Coombe, after paying about £3000 in the 1950s. Clough Ltd had begun shortly after World War I as a home builder
The Ellisons’ initial 7567sq m acquisition with jetty, boathouse, pool and tennis court was bought from iron ore heiress Angela Bennett for $57.5m in 2009 when his stake in his mining company sat at $300m.
The property took the national record from Coolong, a beachfront home in Vaucluse which was bought for $45m in 2008 by currency trader Ivan Ritossa and wife Marina from Allco founder David Coe.
Ellison held the mantle until 2015 when the then casino tycoon, James Packer, topped it by selling La Mer in Vaucluse for $70m to businessman Chau Chak Wing.
Ellison also spent $11.6m on two neighbouring properties in 2014 to take the compound to 9159sq m.
The West Australian newspaper House That! property columnist Kim Macdonald reported on the early October listing of the home, noting “the price of lithium has not been too kind to the Ellisons lately,” and that the Ellison’s “may have felt the pinch” from the ASX-listed company’s decision to scrap its dividend for the first time in 11 years.
But the local paper affirmed the listing was “not forced” since Ellison had $1.2bn in stock and Mineral Resources shares were trading at $50-plus.
Of course, since news of Ellison’s controversial tax affairs broke in mid-October, the MinRes shares have been trading in the low $30s range.
A property roller coaster
It was Mineral Resources’ estranged co-founder, Steve Wyatt, and then wife Sue Gibson who paid Perth’s second most expensive house price back in 2011. And their nine-year tenure highlights the extent of the wild west’s prestige property roller coaster.
The 6405sq m Watkins Road, Dalkeith, riverfront cost the couple $39m. It came with a Geoffrey Summerhayes-designed six-bedroom, eight-bathroom residence dating from the construction in 1976 for the Bond family.
The substantially remodelled home sold in 2020 for $27.5m when bought by former bodybuilder Danny Pavlovich, who founded the sports supplements business Nutrition Systems, and his wife Suzie.
Nation’s strongest performer
Perth was Australia’s strongest performing capital in 2024, with its median home price sitting at $773,000 – some 17 per cent higher annually – after 14 per cent growth in 2023.
Perth has experienced a nation-leading 80 per cent growth since the beginning of the early 2020 pandemic.
“While prices remained on the rise in December, the speed at which prices are increasing has slowed,” PropTrack senior economist Anne Flaherty said.
Both Perth houses and apartments performed strongly in 2024; house prices were up 17.5 per cent to $836,000 and apartments up 18.8 per cent to $559,000.
“Driving Perth’s outperformance has been strong population growth which has outpaced new housing supply, as well as high levels of investor demand,” Flaherty said.
Scratch beneath the median, and prestige prices are not necessarily exceeding past property booms given their entanglement with various mining booms and busts.
A four-level Claremont riverfront townhouse recently sold for $7.2m, having traded at $9.5m in 2009. There was a recent $4.3m sale at Mosman Park which had sold at $5.05m in the pre-global financial crisis boomtime of 2007.
Mosman Park the place to be
Veteran agent Willie Porteous secured Perth’s top 2024 sale at $25m at Mosman Park.
The 2011-built, four-bedroom, five-bathroom Wellington Street home with 863sq m living area was sold by hedge fund manager Clayton Freind and wife Annelise, who initially sought $33m in late 2023.
Freind, who was the local chief executive of Swiss-headquartered Gottex until 2006, had paid $20.4m for the 1768sq m holding in 2007 and their rebuild won the Housing Industry Association’s best custom-built home in WA in 2012.
The buyer was Acquato Property Holdings which is directed by accountant Geoff Lotter who holds its only share, but not beneficially.
The Freinds downsized to a $6.55m West Perth apartment overlooking Kings Park sold by the Giorgi building family.
The year’s second priciest sale was also in Mosman Park, at $22m when Arthur Marshall – founder of British logistics firm Canute Group – and wife Jeanette bought a 3020sq m Owston Street property. It was offered for the first time in 100 years through Porteous when sold by the George family.
Last year’s third priciest sale was when cattle baron Paul Holmes a Court – the youngest of the four children of Robert and Janet Holmes a Court – with wife Zara paid $20.1m at Peppermint Grove.
The 2793sq m riverfront reserve Keane Street, Federation arts and crafts style abode was sold by CY Property agent Richard Young having been the home of the late Jennifer Norgard.
Norgard’s ex-husband, Ross Norgard, had paid Perth’s highest price in 2023 by spending $13.3m on a 1905 Claremont riverfront. His purchase followed the takeover of local aerial imaging firm Nearmap by Thoma Bravo.
Resources industry identities buy in
No surprise there was plenty of buying from resources industry players.
Port Hedland-born Linkforce Engineering director Luke Herbert paid $10.9m in Mosman Park.
His redundant Cottesloe property, bought in 2021 at a record $10.25m for the up-market beachside enclave, was onsold for $13.5m to Todd Bennett, the son of Angela Bennett.
Herbert’s other big property play was in 2013 when he spent $21.35m for coal magnate Ric Stowe’s estate, Devereaux Farm.
Nicola Forrest recently added to her portfolio, with a commercial property at Fremantle.
She paid $4.5m to buy the long-shuttered Terminus Hotel with plans to develop the 1096sq m site, initially known as the Pearlers Hotel in 1887.
Miner Mark Creasy and wife Annie spent $13.5m on the Esplanade at Nedlands.
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