Toorak’s Coonac mansion has been crowned Victoria’s most expensive home sold in 2025.
Retail royalty, drug moguls and even a philanthropic poker player are among the big names to have splashed out mega-millions on Victoria’s most expensive homes by 2025.
The state’s top 24 home sales of the year totaled a whopping $713 million – an amount that could buy more than 700 median-priced homes in Melbourne.
According to PropTrack, the city’s typical home value was $1,015 million in November.
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This figure is far less than the eye-watering $100 million spent on Victoria’s most expensive home of the past 12 months, an Italianate-style Toorak mansion called Coonac.
The circa-1867 estate with a swimming pool and tennis court changed hands in February.
Billionaire and Arrotex Pharmaceuticals, myDNA and DBG Health chairman Dennis Bastas, are said to have purchased the 1.08 hectare property.
The deal is linked to Kay & Burton’s Ross Savas and Gerald Delany.
More recently, industry sources noted in November that Chemist Warehouse co-founder and Sigma Healthcare non-executive director Jack Gance had acquired an $80 million-plus double block in Toorak through Mr Savas and colleague Nick Kenyon.
![](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1280 720"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
An aerial view of the 1.08 hectare Coonac estate. Photo: Instagram/Melbournehousespotters.
Co-founders of Chemist Warehouse, co-founders Mario Verrocchi and Jack Gance. The families of Mr. Gance and Mr. Verrocchi both made major real estate deals in 2025. Photo: Nadir Kinani.
Chemist Warehouse’s other co-founders, the wealthy Verrocchi family, bought a $22 million Toorak mansion in August, which was listed off-market by Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty Antoinette Nido and Max Ruttner.
Ms. Nido said she has also noticed an increase in younger house hunters in their 20s and 30s who have made a fortune in cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and similar fields.
“Many local buyers have done very well in business and, in line with their success in business, are looking for really important historic properties,” Ms Nido said.
Another huge mid-year transaction was the Toorak estate of the late retail and philanthropic couple Marc and Eva Besen, which sold for around $50 million.
12 St Georges Rd, Toorak, raised $33.288 million in June. It was purchased by an overseas buyer with business interests in Australia.
The six-bedroom property was the first Australian residential home to have a Healthy Living system installed from US-based wellness real estate and technology company Delos.
And in July, a 3,800-square-foot property in Brighton fetched more than $30 million through Mr. Savas and fellow agent Alex Schiavo.
Records show that Pamela Colman, wife of lawyer, MCS property developer and international poker player Julius, placed a warning on the address.
According to media reports, the veteran card shark has donated more than $1.5 million in poker winnings to his educational charity, the Colman Foundation.
Mr Savas said Melbourne’s prestige property market had shown “extraordinary depth” over the past 12 months.
“When exceptional homes come to market – whether architectural landmarks, generational homes or rare development opportunities – they attract strong engagement and, in many cases, record-breaking results,” he said.
This 3,800 square meter property in Brighton sold for around $30 million.
An artist’s rendering of the Como Toorak complex, where construction will be completed in 2026. Two of the off-the-plan penthouses have changed hands for $20.95 million each.
In May, retail manager Daniel Agostinelli and his wife Lynette spent more than $20 million on an off-the-plan penthouse in the One Toorak Place project from luxury property developer Orchard Piper and development and investment company NPACT.
Mr. Agostinelli is the CEO of retail and distribution leader Accent Group, which has more than 800 stories and 34 brands, including The Athlete’s Foot, Glue Store, Hype DC and Platypus Shoes.
Top-end buyer’s agent David Morrell said concerns about crime in Melbourne had prompted some buyers to purchase penthouses in 2025 for added security such as concierges.
“There’s another reason: if it’s not your main residence, the land tax on an apartment is a fraction of that on a larger house,” Mr Morrell said.
His colleague, buyers lawyer Matthew Cleverdon, said there has been a rise in demand for high-end penthouses and sub-penthouses above ground floors as these were seen as much more difficult to access and break into.
“In the high-end downsizer market, or just the downsizer market in general, apartments provide a sense of confidence and security,” Mr Cleverdon said.
38 Monomeath Ave, Canterbury, called Alchemy House, traded for $28.1 million.
Robert Fletcher of Forbes Global Properties said that in the past six months an increasing number of interstate buyers have inquired about purchasing in Victoria’s capital as the city is “underperforming the national market”.
“There is an opportunity to get a really nice property in Melbourne at what they consider a good price,” Mr Fletcher said.
Such buyers can find a Victorian property for less than half of what they would pay for a similar home in Sydney or Brisbane, depending on location and a property’s individual features, he added.
Mr Fletcher has completed a $29 million Toorak sale and a circa $25 million Brighton sale this year, the latter in partnership with Buxton’s Victoria Gregory.
The French Provincial-inspired residence in Canterbury features gardens designed by renowned landscape designer Paul Bangay, a spa with sauna, gym, cinema and study.
VICTORIA’S PRICES HOME SALES, 2025:
1. House name/address: Coonac, Toorak
Price: $100 million+
Agency/Agents: Kay & Burton’s Ross Savas and Gerald Delany
2. Lansell Rd, Toorak
$80 million+
Ross Savas and Nick Kenyon of Kay & Burton
![Black tie dinner at Mural Hall, Melbourne on April 2, Mr Marc and Mrs Eva Besen](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 768 1024"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The late Marc and Mrs Eva Besen, whose Toorak estate sold for about $50 million in May.
3. Besen Estate, Toorak
About -$50 million
Ross Savas and Nick Kenyon of Kay & Burton Stonnington
4. 12 St Georges Rd, Toorak
$33,288 million
Marcus Chiminello of Marshall White, Rob Curtain of Sotheby’s International Realty Peninsula and Danielle Vains
5. Brighton
About -$30 million
Ross Savas and Alex Sciavo of Kay & Burton
6 Heyington Place, Toorak, was once again one of Victoria’s top sales results of 2025.
6. 27 St Georges Rd, Toorak
$29 million
Robert Fletcher of Forbes Global Properties
7. Alchemy House, 38 Monomeath Avenue, Canterbury
$28.1 million
Marshall White’s Andy Nasr and Marcus Chiminello
8. 6 Heyington Place, Toorak
About -$25 million
Because & Burton’s Gowan Subings
2 Nine St, Brighton
About -$25 million
Robert Fletcher of Forbes Global Properties and Victoria Gregory of Buxton
2 Kinane St, Brighton, features a swimming pool and spa, tennis court and French-inspired parterre gardens. It sold for approximately $25 million.
9. Torak
$22 million
Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty Antoinette Nido and Max Ruttner
10 and 11. Two off-the-plan penthouses in Como Toorak, Bruce St, Toorak
$20.95 million each
Sean Cussell of Christie’s International, Matt Davis and Nick Kenyon of Kay & Burton and Marcus Chiminello of Marshall White
12. 6-10 Marne St, South Yarra
$20 million+
Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty Antoinette Nido and Max Ruttner
An artist’s rendering of the One Toorak Place complex, where an off-the-plan penthouse sold for more than $20 million in 2025. Demolition of the construction site began in December.
One off-the-plan penthouse of Toorak Place, Carters Ave, Toorak
$20 million+
Luxury property developer Orchard Piper
13. 6 Macquarie Road, Toorak
About $20 million
Marshall White’s Marcus Chiminello and Nicole French
5-7 Kent Ave, Brighton
$20 million
Inspired by the modern elegance of Bel Air, 12 Yarradale Rd, Toorak, sold for $19.5 million.
14. 12 Yarradale Rd, Toorak
$19.5 million
Kay & Burton’s Darren Lewenberg and Grant Samuel
15. 42 St Georges Rd, Toorak
$19.3 million
Melbourne Sotheby’s International Realty Antoinette Nido and Max Ruttner
16. 4 Grant Ave, Toorak
$19 million
Mike Gibson of Forbes Global Properties
The impressive seven-car garage at the Yarradale Rd mansion.
8 Robertson St, Toorak
$19 million
RT Edgar’s Mark Wridgway
3786 Point Nepean Road, Portsea
$19 million
RT Edgar’s David Gillham and Ilze Moran
17. 11 Berkeley St, Hawthorn
$18,888,999
Perry Zhou and Elsa Li by Jellis Craig
3786 Point Nepean Rd, Portsea, offers ocean views.
18. 13 Straun St, Toorak
$18.6 million
Ada Taylor from Kay & Burton
19. 6 Vrachtlaan, Armadale
$18.5 million
Jock Langley and Michael King of Abercrombys
20. 11 Kent Court, Toorak
$17.75 million
RT Edgar’s Tim Brown and Sarah Case
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