Melbourne house smashes property record

A mansion in Melbourne's inner east has broken the city's record for a house price.
A Melbourne businessman bought Avon Court in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn, on Tuesday
night for a sum believed to be between $21 million and $25 million.
The property was sold by Melbourne businessman Clinton Casey, the former chairman of
the Richmond Football Club and an owner and developer of retirement homes and
property, and his wife Leslie.
Neither the seller nor the buyer of Avon Court wanted the price made public, Kay and
Burton real estate managing director Michael Gibson said.
"In terms of Melbourne residential prices it is right at the top of the tree," he
told AAP.
"I would love to tell the world the price, but they (vendor and purchaser) don't
want to."
Mr Casey spent the past three years renovating and rebuilding the period home he is
believed to have paid about $5.7 million for in 2003.
It contains a private cinema, gym, ballroom, six kitchens, parking for 10 cars, two
pools and lifts to four levels.
Top-end property sales are currently rebounding around Australia following last
year's downturn.
A house in nearby Toorak last week sold for a shortlived but undisclosed, record of
above $20 million.
The average price for a house in Melbourne was about $480,000 at the September
quarter, according to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria.