They don’t come much quirkier than long-term Australia resident and seriously funny man Ross Noble who is selling his house in the Mornington Peninsula and heading back to the UK.

The free-range comedian, whose improvisational comedy has won droves of fans here and in his home country, and his wife Fran have put their home on the market for $3 million.

The Nobles have spent the past almost 20 years between the UK and Australia, despite losing  one Australian home in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires.

Meanwhile fellow comedian Judith Lucy is also on the move, leaving her despised Melbourne rental that she calls The House of Sh*t in her social media posts.

Plus Roxy Jacenko’s disappointment, Gina Rinehart’s bargain block and panic selling as budget drops. These stories and many more in this week’s cornucopia of quirkiness from Leftfield Communications.

Free Reads

Domain

Gina Rinehart’s former compound hits the market at humble price
For less than the price of a Sydney home, buyers could pick up 257 hectares in the Kimberley, complete with one of the region’s oldest homesteads – and a few crocodiles.

Brisbane housing crisis: 9 ‘missing’ sites could deliver 10 per cent of homes needed by 2046
One’s an old military range, another’s a patch of parkland next to a suburban bowls club, and further down the list, there’s a closed tavern, an RSL car park and even the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Homeowner drops $30,000 off asking price over TikTok video
A Melbourne homeowner has slashed the price of their property by tens of thousands of dollars in panic over the federal government’s sweeping budget changes to housing tax.

From $90k to $1m: Shopping for a beach box on the Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is famed for its boat sheds and beach boxes that are as iconic as the coastline itself. But with many townships having their own collections of colourful boxes, choosing where to buy one is not always easy, especially given the surprisingly wide price range.

Ross Noble’s $3 million decision ahead of UK move
British comedian Ross Noble is farewelling his Mornington Peninsula home as he and his wife Fran prepare for a move back to the UK.

Olympic champion lists patch of grass for eye-watering price
Olympic swimming legend Grant Hackett is selling the Golden Mile block where he planned to build his family’s dream home. The vacant lot in Brighton, Victoria, has hit the market with an eye-watering price guide, just two years after Hackett and his wife, Sharlene, purchased the site.

‘I’ll only leave here in a box’: Why Bob Hawke loved Northbridge so much
Bob Hawke is said to have declared, “I’ll only leave here in a box”, when he moved to Northbridge in 1991, and he was true to his word, enjoying his waterfront home for 28 years until he died in 2019.

The architecture of privacy: The trend away from designs that show off or display wealth
Luxury architecture is becoming less about what a home shows off publicly, and more about what it holds back. High-end buyers are increasingly drawn to private, inward-facing properties with low-profile, minimalist facades, which act as a filter between the street and the sanctuary within.

Commercial Real Estate

Roxy Jacenko fails to secure $10 million hopes for former Sweaty Betty office
Roxy Jacenko’s bid for a multi-million dollar windfall on her luxurious Sydney office has failed to go as hoped. The Australian entrepreneur last month listed the property that was once the headquarters for her public relations firm, Sweaty Betty PR.

ABC Online

Granny flats allowed again in parts of Sydney’s south-west near Western Sydney airport
The NSW government has reinstated rules allowing secondary dwellings such as granny flats and studios in areas around Western Sydney International Airport. The change means Wollondilly, Fairfield, Camden, Liverpool and Penrith locals can now build another residence less than 85 square metres in size, provided certain noise-proofing measures are complied with.

Parramatta City Council unveils plan for Chinatown in ‘underutilised’ part of Western Sydney
The Parramatta City Council has released its vision of a new Chinatown, including public art, laneways and a new public square, in the Western Sydney CBD. Community members hope the plan will uplift a part of the city overshadowed by recent development in the northern side.

1.2 million Queensland homes unprepared as smoke alarm deadline nears
A national company estimates 1.2 million Queensland homes are not compliant with smoke alarm legislation. Electricians anticipate there could be supply and trade shortages as the public gets up to speed.

Eight people arrested at North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment site, police say
Police say eight people have been arrested at the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment site this morning. Protesters have been taking action all week in a bid to stop the removal of 585 trees as part of a controversial redevelopment of the course which sits on the Adelaide Park Lands.

Realestate.com.au

Aussie reno queen unleashes world-first robot tradie on live build
Aussie reno queen Cherie Barber has unleashed a ‘world-first’ experiment – a humanoid robot apprentice learning the ropes from tradies on her next build… smokos included.

Noise laws: When is a neighbour complaint going too far?
An argument between neighbours over noise in an apartment complex has sparked furious debate online about who is in the wrong. The issue began when one resident found a note stuck to their door from a neighbour complaining about excessive noise.

One in six Australians now ‘doomsday preppers’
It used to be the preserve of Aussies who wore tinfoil hats while decrying the moon landings as fake, but a doomsday prepper mindset is going increasingly mainstream since the Iran War fuel crisis.

Judith Lucy moves out of Melbourne rental she calls the ‘House of Sh*t’
Comedian Judith Lucy has a huge update – she’s officially left the horror home that she despised publicly in social media.

Australians face ‘cost of dying crisis’ as burial plots become unaffordable luxury
Australia’s most contested real estate isn’t a waterfront unit – it’s a burial plot. With land scarce, prices rising and planning lagging, families are discovering they can’t afford a final address close to home.

Victoria: Ex-World War II POW site ‘Camp 13’ for sale
A slice of Australia’s wartime history with a jaw-dropping past, including a link to a massive Nazi escape attempt, is for sale in regional Victoria.

Gold Coast crowned Aus profit capital as homeowners rake in $5.3bn
Gold Coast homeowners are sitting on a multi-billion-dollar property goldmine, outperforming every other region to be crowned Australia’s capital for real estate resale profits.

Landlord loses tenant over $50 mistake
An Australian landlord is considering ditching their property manager after a $50 move that may have cost them a good tenant. The homeowner, from Queensland, was using a local property manager to look after the investment but things turned sour when the tenant’s lease came up for renewal.

$50 million ‘renovator’s delight’ in Sydney’s Point Piper
A grand $50 million “renovator’s delight” has come to market in Sydney’s exclusive Point Piper after more than four decades owned by one family.

Nathan Cleary $3m+ UK contract sparks Aussie property exit speculation
The future of Nathan Cleary’s multimillion-dollar Aussie property portfolio is under a cloud following a rumoured offer to move to the UK. According to news reports, the Penrith Panthers superstar has been tipped to quit the NRL for a $3.75 million (£2 million) deal in the Super League.

AFL great Mick Conlan sells Brighton beach home for $4.5m+
Former Lions Aussie rules player and AFL Queensland chief executive Mick Conlan sold his Brighton home the same day he was inducted into his old club’s hall of fame.

Andy Lee, Richie McNeill: Inside celebrity’s Yarra River-front homes
It’s filled with E-coli and the colour has people questioning if it’s upside down, but Melbourne’s Yarra River has become a surprise hot spot for celebrities and millionaires.

She saved $100k for a house – it wasn’t enough, so mum’s now her flatmate
Wini Parker was determined to find a way in to the property market despite soaring house prices, interest rates, and living costs.

Real Commercial

Cafe’s megaphone showdown with neighbours
A quiet, affluent Perth suburb has been rocked by an extraordinary neighbourhood dispute, escalating from noise complaints to a police call-out and an alleged megaphone-wielding local screaming obscenities at cafe patrons.

Payneham Mausoleum offers investors opportunity of a lifetime
Only serious buyers are encouraged to consider purchasing SA’s only privately-owned mausoleum and one of the largest in the country. The Payneham Mausoleum, which is on the market without a price guide, will need a fair cash injection to make it profitable.

Urban Developer – Partly Free

Mormon Church Books Clifftop Housing Plans in Brisbane
The Mormon church has lodged plans for an accommodation complex purpose-built for visiting worshippers beside its cliff-top temple at inner-city Brisbane’s Kangaroo Point.

Pay-walled

The Australian Financial Review

The $795,000 investment bought four minutes before rules changed
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom house on 594 square metres at 19 Wallara Crescent, Bundoora, Victoria. Sold by private treaty for $795,000.

Property preachers sorry for bungling their metaphors
Reaching for language to describe the housing crisis keeps getting good faith actors into trouble. There are many words to describe the country’s housing mess – that which apparently Jim Chalmers′ budget is trying to fix.

‘We are perplexed’: Rinehart steps up HQ helipad pursuit as council peace talks fail
Billionaire Gina Rinehart’s battle to build a helipad at her company’s elaborate new pink-themed headquarters is headed for trial after peace talks with Perth’s city council failed to yield a settlement.

Billionaire Sam Arnaout sells $20m Manly waterfront before auction
Rich Lister and Iris Capital founder Sam Arnaout has sold his Manly waterfront property before auction and significantly above its price guide, scoring about $20 million for the family holiday home on Sydney’s northern beaches.

The Sydney Morning Herald

Security guard intervenes in ‘disgusting’ fight during Sydney council meeting
Liverpool City Council’s Monday night meeting began with full councillor attendance and a prayer by the local Anglican minister for councillors to “show us how to love our neighbours”.

The suburban Lime bike wave and the battle for Sydney’s footpaths
The rapid expansion of Sydney’s largest shared e-bike scheme across a ring of suburbs is dragging local councils, commuters and the NSW government into an escalating battle over who controls the city’s footpaths, streets and transport future.

It began with one simple oval: Inside the $20 million saga plaguing a Sydney council
Oval in March 2023 from grass to a synthetic sports field, seven-year-old Lily Choi was promised it would close for a few months and reopen before year’s end.

Sydney’s first electric ferry two years off as ambitions for entire fleet sink
Sydney will receive its first electric ferry two years later than originally planned as ambitions to electrify or use hydrogen to power the entire state government-owned fleet of 40 vessels by 2035 are set to be dashed.

Sister of Real Housewife puts glam $11m Vaucluse home on the market
Nora Gazal, the sister of The Real Housewives of Sydney star, Nicole Gazal O’Neil, and Michael Milling, the director of timber floor supplier Woodos, have put their glamorous Vaucluse home on the market with a price guide of $10 million to $11 million.

There will be a silent watcher at the nation’s auctions this weekend
As thousands of Australians turn out at property auctions across the nation’s suburban front lawns and apartment lounge rooms this weekend, there will be one silent but interested onlooker. Anthony Albanese’s biggest political and economic gamble – the decision to overhaul the three shibboleths of Australian tax law – will go on the line at every one of the 1994 auctions scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

Gold mogul splashes $50 million on record-setting Mosman mansion
Andrew Cochineas, the chief executive officer of Pallion, and his wife, Lisette, have emerged as the buyers of a $50 million Mosman mansion, making it both a suburb and north shore record.

The Age

‘No visibility’: Inside the City of Melbourne’s $200,000-a-year Chinese outpost
On the tenth floor of a building in the Chinese port city of Tianjin sits the City of Melbourne’s most far-flung outpost. About 9000 kilometres away from the council’s CBD chambers, the satellite office is staffed by two full-time employees and boasts that it is at the “forefront of business development and civic engagement” between Melbourne and Tianjin, a city with a population of 13 million.

WA Today

The WA towns where rentals are rare – unless you’re on holiday
A surge in short-term accommodation such as Airbnbs has left some West Australian towns and suburbs without a rental in sight. New figures have revealed the extent of WA’s “Airbnb market” as the state’s housing emergency deepens.

The Daily Telegraph

Plan to sell Victoria Barracks part of a ‘thought bubble’ cash grab, inquiry told
The government’s decision to sell a key Sydney military base has sparked explosive criticism from a former Army chief who claims bureaucrats have failed to address strategic security issues.

New survey reveals Millennials are driving a surge in buying Australian-made and a willing to pay extra for it
A new poll has revealed the one thing Aussies want to do more of to keep our country going, and their fears as we remain heavily reliant on other nations.

Anger grows over Barangaroo ‘wasteland’ as billion-dollar development still in limbo
It is meant to be a jewel of Sydney Harbour but a wasteland sits where the $5bn Barangaroo Central is meant to be – despite a two decade-long plan to transform it into a “vibrant, living and lifestyle precinct”, with a the bustling commercial, retail and hospitality hub.

Premier and police warn against Clover Moore’s $150 million city square project
Premier Chris Minns has questioned Clover Moore’s $150 million Town Hall Square plan as NSW Police warn the city “lounge room” could become a magnet for protesters and crime.

The Herald Sun

The loophole that lets this eyesore rot on the fringe of Melbourne’s CBD
A prime Carlton site has sat derelict for more than a decade due to restrictions that have banned developers from building on it, sparking calls for urgent planning reform.

Snow where to be found: Public investors wanted for secretive $7m indoor Snowtunnel with no address
Secretive developers of a “world-first” indoor snow park featuring an “endless rotating slope” have launched a $7m capital raise to complete the project at a mystery Melbourne location.

The Gold Coast Bulletin

Gold Coast ditches ‘Glitter Strip’ in favour of new ‘City that says Yes’ slogan
Gold Coast City Council has rolled out its new branding strategy to attract investors and tourists, ditching the Glitter Strip moniker.

The Adelaide Advertiser

One Nation SA leader Cory Bernardi lists Payneham office complex
After spearheading One Nation’s surge at the recent SA election, one of Australia’s most controversial political leaders is set for a $13m-plus payday from the sale of a huge office complex.