Luxury real estate in Melbourne has never been more lucrative with the young millionaires and billionaires splashing their cash across the market.
The city’s east side is currently flooded with business and media professionals under 50 with more disposable income than they can spend.
Melbourne has seen record-breaking sales thanks to entrepreneurs in their twenties snapping up property, while beauty queens are kick-starting their portfolios with sprawling mansions.
Meanwhile, young investors with their fingers on the pulse of the market have netted unimaginable riches flipping Toorak mansions.
Here are some of the wealthy young dynamos fuelling the multimillion-dollar property market in ‘s southern city.
Zana Pali
Zana Pali, 34, rose to fame on the seventh season of My Kitchen Rules in 2016 with her ex-husband Gianni Romano
The couple were once the proud owners of a luxury ‘dream home’ in Brighton, before they sold it for about $10 million around the time of their rumoured split
Zana Pali rose to fame after appearing on the seventh season of My Kitchen Rules in 2016 with her ex-husband Gianni Romano.
The mother-of-two, 34, now makes a living as a lawyer and real estate developer with her parents, Zen and Ramo Pali, and their company, Pali + Co.
Zana and Gianni were once the proud owners of a luxury ‘dream home’ in Brighton before they sold it for about $10 million around the time of their rumoured split.
The home features an 800-bottle wine cellar, pool and spa, five-car garage, and a basement entertainment area with a Brazil-mined Blue Roma Quartzite bar.
The pair are said to have made a pretty penny from the sale of the Bayside manor.
Steph Claire Smith
Steph Claire Smith makes her millions as an online fitness influencer and podcaster.
She co-founded her incredibly successful KIC brand, formerly Keep It Cleaner, in 2018—first as a recipe eBook which she later built into a fitness empire.
Steph Claire Smith, 31, makes her millions as an online fitness influencer and podcaster
She and her husband Josh Miller recently pocketed a tidy profit when they sold their Brighton East pad for $7.8 million last year, after purchasing it for $7 million in 2022
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Steph, 31, and her husband Josh Miller recently moved into a new luxury family home—the details of which have yet to be disclosed.
But they recently pocketed a tidy profit when they sold their Brighton East pad for $7.8 million last year, after purchasing it for $7 million in 2022.
The Palm Springs-inspired house boasts a spa, outdoor barbecue terrace and a 240-bottle wine cellar.
It also features a steam room and a gorgeous balcony that looks over the large gas-heated pool and entertainment area.
Scott and Alex Pendlebury
Scott Pendlebury and his wife, Alex, who have been together since they were 19, have dabbled in Bayside and Elwood real estate.
The 37-year-old is an AFL star who plays for Collingwood, while his stunning partner makes a living as a nutritionist and influencer.
They sold their Elwood family home in 2022 for an undisclosed sum in the vicinity of $6.5 million, three years after building it for their family of four.
Scott Pendlebury and his wife, Alex, who have been together since they were 19, have dabbled in Bayside and Elwood real estate
They snapped up a Bayside house project for $7 million in 2022
With their children Darcy and Jax, the couple made good use of the magnesium swimming pool and spa, mini basketball court, gym, and sauna room.
That same year, they snapped up a Bayside house project for $7 million.
The five-bedroom home features a tennis court, wet bar, and a massive pool.
Adrian Portelli
Adrian Portelli boasts a net worth of well over $1 billion and frequently makes the headlines for his wild multimillion-dollar real estate ventures.
The Block bidder, 35, made his fortune through his giveaway business LMCT+ as well as property investments.
He has become known for his luxury collection of sports cars, and has also purchased a string of multimillion-dollar homes and other very rare items.
The successful businessman boasts luxury homes all around , and he added a jaw-dropping Melbourne penthouse to his property portfolio in 2023.
Adrian Portelli, 35, boasts a net worth of well over $1 billion and frequently makes the headlines for his multimillion-dollar real estate ventures
The sale broke a record for the city’s most expensive apartment after Adrian paid an eye-watering $39 million for the pad.
He reportedly spent another $6 million on modifying and customising the 1200sqm sky home—including craning in his $3 million McLaren Senna GTR as an ‘art piece’.
Making his spotlight debut on The Block in 2022, some of Adrian’s most publicised property purchases come from the TV show which made him famous.
Adrian has spent more than $27 million buying a total of eight Block houses across three years of attending auctions.
He most recently made headlines in June when he begged his followers to buy the resort complex he purchased at the show’s auction for $15.03 million last year.
The five-home compound is situated on Phillip Island, with Adrian courting controversy when he pushed out other buyers to purchase the entire build.
In 2023, Adrian snapped up three of the five Block homes for a combined price of $12 million.
He made couple Steph and Gian the winners of the season, buying their house for $5 million.
He broke a record for Melbourne’s most expensive apartment purchase in 2023 when he paid an eye-watering $39 million for his CBD pad
Adrian then dropped $4.3 million on Eliza and Liberty’s house and $3.1 million on Kyle and Leslie’s.
In 2022, he became known as ‘Mr Lambo’ when he rocked up to the Gisborne auctions in a yellow Lamborghini.
He only purchased one home that year, Sharon and Ankur’s, for $4.25 million in a post-auction deal, but got into a heated bidding war over Omar and Oz’s house.
Nowadays, Adrian has quit The Block and attempted to start his own renovation show, My Reno Rules, in Bulleen.
He paid $2.7 million in total for two neighbouring homes which will appear on the show next year.
Jack Merlo
Jack has raked in millions of dollars in profit thanks to his various Toorak mansion flips over the years.
The acclaimed landscape designer, 44, most recently sold a Robert Street home in June for an eye-watering $14.9 million, after buying it for $13.6 million in 2021.
Jack Merlo, 44, and his husband, Ricardo Da Silva, dropped $19 million for a Regency style dwelling they bought from the Myer family
It came just months after Jack and his husband, Ricardo Da Silva, dropped $19 million for a Regency-style dwelling they bought from the Myer family.
The two-storey mansion was built in 1936 for heir Douglas Carnegie and his art collector wife, Margaret.
Last year, Jack sold a Heyington Place property for $17.5 million to hotelier Robert Zagame and his wife, Elizabeth.
The year before, in 2023, he also offloaded a Linlithgow Rd home for $12.5 million to Cotton On CEO Peter Johnson and his wife Kim.
Jack and his partner landed a tidy profit on the sale after they splashed $8.15 million on it in December 2020 before renovating the home.
Blair James
Bondi Sands co-founder Blair James boasted a Blairgowrie pad as his first home.
The self-tan king, 45, lived at the luxury property with his wife, Melanie Adams, during the coronavirus lockdown.
Bondi Sands co-founder Blair James, 45, boasted a Blairgowrie pad as his first home with his wife, Melanie Adams
The couple lived in the home during coronavirus lockdown, but later sold it in 2021 for $2.21 million
They went on to sell the five-bedroom, two-bathroom home for $2.21 million in 2021, saying goodbye to the fully renovated digs and its in-ground pool and spa.
Blair and Melanie went on to live in a heritage Kew home, which featured a vehicle turntable, home cinema and gym.
They sold it in 2024 for $7.1 million before moving overseas.
Edward Craven
Edward Craven has dreams of owning the most expensive property in .
The cryptocurrency casino co-founder, 29, bought property in Toorak for $80 million in 2022, which was dubbed a ‘ghost mansion’ for its derelict nature.
Last year, after demolishing the home, he unveiled his $145 million plans to turn the billionaire’s enclave mansion into a sleek, modern, multi-level property.
The purchase of the home smashed Victoria’s previous record house price of $52.5 million, but the rebuild will make the home the most expensive in .
Edward Craven, 29, has dreams of owning the most expensive property in
The cryptocurrency casino co-founder bought property in Toorak for $80 million in 2022, which was dubbed a ‘ghost mansion’ for its derelict nature
It wasn’t the only property Edward purchased that year.
He also snapped up a $38 million two-level property with a pool and reflective pond.
Sean Senvirtne
Sean Senvirtne is the founder and CEO of MyDeal, selling the majority stake in the company to Woolworths in a $280 million deal in 2022.
Since then, the 41-year-old has spent his change on two ritzy investments along the golden mile beachfront in Brighton.
Just last year he dropped about $1.75 million on a two-bedroom apartment along the foreshore.
The unit came with its own highly sought-after beach box, with speculation suggesting Sean intended to use the home as a guest house or investment property.
A few years earlier, in 2022, he purchased a vacant lot for $22 million from Brighton-based property developer Ross Voci.
Sean Senvirtne, 41, dropped about $1.75 million on a two-bedroom apartment along the Brighton foreshore in 2024
Just weeks earlier, Ross had bought the same lot from Patricia Ilhan, the widow of Crazy John’s founder John Ilhan, for $20 million.
Ruslan Kogan
Ruslan Kogan was ‘s richest person under the age of 30 from 2011 to his 30th birthday in November 2012—and he has the property portfolio to prove it.
The eCommerce company founder—and CEO of Kogan.com—has a wealth of Toorak mansions and two other properties in Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula.
In October 2024, he emerged as the buyer of two adjoining homes on Toorak’s most coveted street, St Georges Road.
The pair of double-storey brick maisonette homes boasted three bedrooms each and a pool in the back.
At the time of the purchase, Ruslan, 42, was already the owner of the Chastleton Avenue mansion once owned by telecommunications investor Phillip Cornish.
He paid $38.8 million for the home in 2018, which was the Melbourne record at the time.
Ruslan Kogan, 42, was ‘s richest person under the age of 30 from 2011 to his 30th birthday in November 2012. Pictured with wife Anastasia
Ruslan rounded out his luxury portfolio with neighbouring properties in Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula, which cost a total of $15 million
A few years later, in 2021, he bought another Toorak home, this one five-bedrooms, for $20 million as a gift for his parents, Alex and Irene.
As if that wasn’t enough, Ruslan rounded out his luxury portfolio with neighbouring properties in Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula.
The homes cost a total of $15 million together, with Ruslan splashing $12.91 million on a Stephen Akehurst-designed manor on Musk Creek Road in October 2021.
He also purchased an adjoining property for $2.09 million, with the homes believed to be a getaway for Ruslan from his $38.8 million Toorak palace.
The two Musk Creek Road homes were initially built as a package, sprawling across two titles, with an agency attempting to sell them as such for $17 million in 2019.
The listing offered a five-bedroom mansion with an indoor pool, plus a three-bedroom retreat with workshops, a tennis court, paddocks, and two dams.
Michael and Anna Egorova
Cryptocurrency billionaires Michael and Anna Egorova shocked their neighbourhood in 2023 when they bought two neighbouring Hawthorn properties.
Cryptocurrency billionaires Michael and Anna Egorova shocked their neighbourhood in 2023 when they bought two neighbouring Hawthorn properties
The couple first purchased a two-storey, five-bedroom Italianate mansion, known as Verona, for $18.25 million in 2022
The couple first purchased a two-storey, five-bedroom Italianate mansion, known as Verona, for $18.25 million in 2022.
A year later, they dropped millions more on the massive neighbouring property known as Avon Court, bringing their landholdings to a shocking 5,663 square metres.
Michael and Anna, 27, splashed $41 million on the four-level, lift-connected Victorian mansion, dubbed Avon Court.
It boasts nine bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a gym, steam room, two swimming pools, mini soccer field, six kitchens, and a playground.
Dean Mintz
Very little is known of Dean Mintz, who made his millions by starting the business Cettire, an online luxury fashion retailer.
The ‘shy’ tech entrepreneur, 39, debuted on the Young Rich list in 2021 with a net worth of $617 million.
He is believed to have bought a mansion in Toorak for $14.5 million.
Bali Body founders Laura Foley, 38, and David Oosterloo, 37, sold their Mt Martha property this year for $4.7 million
They originally listed the multimillion-dollar Mornington Peninsular home with a price guide of $4.8 million to $5.2 million, but had to settle for $100,000 less
Laura Foley and David Oosterloo
Bali Body founders Laura Foley, 38, and David Oosterloo, 37, sold their Mt Martha property this year for $4.7 million.
They originally listed the multimillion-dollar Mornington Peninsular home with a price guide of $4.8 million to $5.2 million, but had to settle for $100,000 less.
The four-bedroom home, named Scala House, changed hands in January.
The Mediterranean-inspired home is located just a stone’s throw from the beach, with a boundary wall and subtropical landscaping adding an extra layer of privacy.
The well-appointed abode also boasts an open-plan kitchen and living space with Patagonian Quartzite stonework.
The couple are also said to have sold a Brighton home for $9.75 million.
Owen Kerr
Owen Kerr purchased a South Yarra property in a quiet, off-market exchange in 2019.
The foreign exchange broker, 41, dropped an eye-watering $36 million on the home during a secret deal with Edward Blythe.
Edward, the previous owner of the prestige home, is understood to be a relative of former Spotless chairman Brian Blythe.