Image: Instagram via @stephclairesmith / realestate.com.au
It’s been a standout year for Australian celebrities who have sold their homes. The list includes a footy star, fashion designer, TV personalities, a fitness influencer and even the Prime Minister.
Even though most of us don’t have the budget to buy a house that’s been renovated, built by or lived in by the rich and famous, we can still enjoy having a nosy at all the details.
Here are some of the most high-profile house sales that happened throughout 2024.
Celebrity home sales 2024
It’s been a star-studded line-up in the real estate market.
March 2024: Kayla Itsines sold Adelaide bungalow for $7m
In early 2024, Kayla Itsines, co-founder of multimillion-dollar fitness app Sweat, left her home town of Adelaide to move to the sunny Gold Coast. The move brought the 33-year-old mum-of-two closer to her co-founder and ex-fiancé Tobi Pearce, who she shares a daughter with, and who also moved there from South Australia.
The 1920s bungalow located at 55 Sheffield Street, Malvern, was bought by Kayla for $3.9 million in 2017. It was sold by her seven years later for a record $7.375 million in March 2024, which is $2.125 more than the former record for the leafy suburb.
April 2024: Eric Hipwood sold Queensland cottage for $4m
Brisbane Lions footy player Eric Hipwood and his interior designer partner Ebony Patman sold their Queensland worker’s cottage in the first half of 2024 for around $3.75 million. Interestingly, it looks like the home is already up for sale again.
The couple bought the heritage-listed home at 162 Brisbane Street, Bulimba, in 2020 for $1.4 million. They did a major extension and renovation, with the completed property appearing in Home Beautiful magazine. The listing went up in March 2024 and it sold soon after, more than doubling in price in four years.
May 2024: Camilla Franks sold Woollahra residence for $8m
Fashion designer Camilla Franks, also known as the ‘Kaftan Queen’, sold her Sydney home on May 3 for $7.65 million.
Camilla Franks moved on from the maximalist-style residence at 305 Edgecliff Road, Woollahra, to move to Bondi. There, she bought a $12.5 million Arts and Crafts style manor – one of only a few remaining estates of its kind in the area.
May 2024: Chloe Brookman sold Coogee house for $3-5m
Chloe Brookman, co-founder of toy and homewares brand Olli Ella, did a four-month renovation on her double-storey circa 1930 house and sold it in May 2024. The sale price was undisclosed but a Domain guide for the area estimates it at $3.86-$4.92 million.
The mum-of-five and her family have moved from the home at 184-186 Brook St, Coogee, NSW, to another flipping project in the same suburb. They have plans to live in the new place for six months before they start the renovating process all over again.
June 2024: Charlie Albone and Juliet Love sold Ourimbah cottage for $2m
Landscape designer Charlie and interior designer Juliet are both hosts on Better Homes & Gardens. Although they previously lived in the home at 162 Ourimbah Creek Road in Ourimbah, NSW, work schedules saw them move to a fixer-upper in Maroubra.
The talented pair had put a lot of love into renovating the weatherboard cottage in Ourimbah. They bought it in 2012 for $840,000 and it sold on June 7 in 2024 for more than double at $2.2 million.
June 2024: The Hostess sold Bellevue Hill mansion for $80m
Food blogger Stephanie Conley-Buhre, also known as ‘The Hostess’, sold her Bellevue Hill mansion for around $80 million in June 2024, which is $50 million more than she and her venture capitalist husband Oskar Buhre bought it for in 2021. It’s located at 27 Victoria Rouad in Bellevue Hill and ranks number three in the top 20 biggest homes sales of 2024.
The couple is reported to have spent more than $20 million renovating the Spanish Mission-style house’s “dated” interiors. That still leaves them with a significant profit of around $30 million in three years.
September 2024: Larry Emdur’s former Sydney clifftop home sold for $21m
While Larry Emdur and his wife Sylvie has already moved on from their breathtaking Dover Heights home after selling it to celebrity accountant Anthony Bell for $11.5 million in 2017, the 2024 sale of the property is worth a mention for its eye-wateringly high price.
It went for an incredible $21 million to Leon Xing and Sean Huang, buyers agents at Concierge East. That’s an increase of $14.2 million in the 13 years since Larry and Sylvie bought the property for $6.8 million in 2011. The sale of the oceanfront dwelling located on Hunter St in Dover Heights has smashed records for the area.
September 2024: Kyal and Kara’s Bay Builds duplex sold for $5m
The Block stars Kyal and Kara walk away from 2024 with a double sale – each half of their duplex at 89a and 89b Eloora Rd, Long Jetty in NSW was snapped up for $2.6 million.
Set on the Central Coast, House 1 had a slightly lighter aesthetic of the two and was the first to sell in September for $2.67m. The more moody House 2 was close behind, selling in October for $2.64m. That’s $5.31 million combined.
October 2024: Marty Fox sold Mornington Peninsula cottage for $2m
The Block judge and co-founder of Whitefox Real Estate, Marty Fox, had an exciting year. Not only did The Block 2024 contestants walk away with a record $5.43 million in combined winnings but he also secured a sale of his own coastal cottage.
The home at 361 Arthurs Seat Road, Red Hill, Victoria, sold for $2.05 million on 16th October, 2024. Marty and his wife Charlotte bought the pretty Mornington Peninsula property in 2021. As it wasn’t their primary residence and Melbourne commitments were preventing them from spending much time there, they let it go just three years later.
November 2024: The Bachelor couple sold North Bondi apartment for $1.5m
The Bachelor love birds Jimmy Nicholson and Holly Kingston are now married with a newborn baby. In need of a little extra space, they sold their North Bondi apartment in November 2024 prior to auction, which means it presumably went for the asking price of $1.4 to $1.5 million.
Jimmy bought the property at 9/28 Warners Ave amid the property boom in 2021 for $1.42 million, so it seems they didn’t see much movement on that price. With their new bundle of joy having safely arrived and now being the proud residents at a new place, it appears they’re still pleased as punch.
November 2024: Anthony Albanese sold investment for $1.7m
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese might not have been the most profitable player in the property market this year but he did make moves that were put under the public microscope. His Dulwich Hill investment property sold on November 29 for $1.75 million. He originally purchased it in 2015 for $1.175, so that left him with a profit of $575,000.
He may have offloaded one property, but the PM gained another in the form of a cliffside coastal home in Copacabana on NSW’s Central Coast for $4.3m.
When sharing the news with 2GB radio host Ben Fordham, he explained that it’s in the area where his fiancée Jodie Haydon’s parents and family live.
December 2024: Darren Palmer sold Byron Shire pad for $2.8m
The Block judge Darren Palmer had a couple of properties on the market in 2024. His Byron Shire investment place at 30 Beachside Drive, Suffolk Park, went under offer on December 6, with an asking price of $2.55 to $2.8 million.
It was a significant drop of around $1 million in comparison to what Darren and husband Olivier Duvillard bought it for, at $3.85 million in 2021 during soaring real-estate prices. His freshly renovated Bondi home is still on the market, with a price guide of $8.5 million.
December 2024: Steph Claire Smith sold Brighton East home for $8m
Fitness influencer and co-founder of Keep It Cleaner health company Steph Claire Smith has sold her mid-century-style residence in Brighton East, Melbourne, for around $7.8 million.
Steph, who’s expecting her second child with husband Josh Miller, founder of sunglasses company Soda Shades, bought the four-bedroom house for $7 million in 2022.
The pair are also selling Josh’s family home in Bearrii, three hours north of Melbourne, with a price range of $8 to 8.8 million. The Keep It Cleaner (now known as Kic) fitness app Steph founded with business partner Laura Henshaw has been downloaded 750,000 times.
