Melbourne’s multimillionaire mansion buyers had their pick of homes for sale in 2024, as long as they had deep pockets. A stunning contemporary Toorak residence sold quickly, but by the year’s end, several high-end listings remained available and looking for the right buyer. And Melbourne is still waiting to see who will break the $100 million barrier, as the Myer family’s historic home Cranlana continues to seek the best custodian to take it into its next chapter.
But for the most sought-after homes there was scant time to waste, and some were whisked off the market in as little as a week. Top-end buyer’s agent David Morrell, of Morrell and Koren, described the year as a tale of two halves.“Those that went to the market in February, March, looked like heroes, and those that went to the market late in the year have got doughnuts,” he said. “It’s not to do with interest rates at the top end – there’s global uncertainty, general instability. “I’ve never seen the gap so wide between what a vendor will accept and what a buyer will pay, and I think that gap is getting wider.” He is making offers, but not willing to overpay. Buyers were mindful of vacancy taxes and the state government’s land tax on secondary properties, he said.The agent who handled the highest deal of the year was Mike Gibson at Forbes Global Properties, at close to $70 million for a contemporary home on Macquarie Road in Toorak. The vendors were former fashion executive Sue Lord and her husband, John Lord, a former barrister who is the chairman of legal and compliance business Neota, who paid $13.25 million for the block and undertook a five-year architect-designed build.The residence hit the market in March with a $75 million to $82 million price guide. A caveat has since been slapped on the title in the name of Gang Li, public records show, but Gibson would not comment on the buyer or price.“Unquestionably, it is not as strong as it was in previous years,” he said. “The buyers are still ther