From street buskers and dole recipients to TV hosts and tech moguls, Australia’s biggest stars are turning their fame into multimillion-dollar real estate empires.
Here is a look inside the stunning property portfolios of Australia’s most famous faces.
Tones and I
Pop star Toni Watson — better known as Tones and I — has experienced a meteoric rise from living in a van and busking on the streets to owning a real estate portfolio worth more than $24m.
The Dance Monkey singer’s property collection includes a $6.4m three-home buying spree on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, featuring a property equipped with its own waterslide.
The ARIA winner also holds a $3.3m 12-bedroom compound near Byron Bay, a $2.15m renovated Bangalow cottage renting for $1,250 a week, and development blocks in Frankston.
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Tones and I has quite a property collection.
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The singer has experienced a meteoric rise from living in a van to owning a real estate portfolio. Picture: Facebook
One of the homes Tones and I acquired on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula in 2025.
Scott Cam
The Block host Scott Cam started out as a carpenter in 1984 earning $278 a week. Today, the TV personality sits on an estimated $25m real estate portfolio.
His primary residence is a grand Mediterranean-style mansion in Vaucluse bought in 2012 for $4.6m, now estimated at over $10m.
Cam also quietly bought a secret “Challenge House” apartment from Season 12 of The Block in Port Melbourne directly from Nine for $2.2m in 2016, using it as his Melbourne base during filming.
His holdings also include a $3.5m Rosebery investment and a $1.1m coastal retreat in Narrawallee.
Scott Cam sits on an estimated $25m real estate portfolio.
The Vaucluse home of Cam. Picture: John Appleyard
Dave Hughes
Comedian Dave Hughes went from living on the dole to becoming one of Australia’s highest-paid radio and TV stars.
Hughes famously bought his St Kilda family home at auction for $1.84m in 2010 after popping out to buy milk and placing a bid “for fun” without telling his wife.
In 2017, he shocked reality TV fans by showing up to The Block auctions and snapping up Josh and Elyse’s winning Elsternwick build for $3.067m, a property now estimated to be worth closer to $5m.
Dave Hughes went from living on the dole to becoming one of Australia’s highest-paid radio and TV stars. Picture: James Gourley/Getty Images for TV WEEK Logie Awards
The comedian later said the purchase of The Block property was a tad impulsive.
Jennifer Hawkins & Jake Wall
Former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins and her builder husband Jake Wall have established themselves as luxury property developers via Wall’s construction firm, J Group Projects.
The power couple recently settled their massive $30m Whale Beach double-block compound — built on land previously owned by opera icon Dame Joan Sutherland.
The multi-level “Taj Mahal” build features a bowling alley, basketball court, home theatre, and sunken lounge.
It follows their historic $24.5m sale of waterfront estate “Casa Paloma” in Newport to Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Jennifer Hawkins and husband Jake Wall. Picture: Supplied
The couple settled their massive $30m Whale Beach double-block compound. Picture: J Group Projects via Instagram
Justin Hemmes
Pub baron Justin Hemmes holds one of the country’s most envy-inducing residential collections.
His primary Sydney base is the gothic heritage mansion “The Hermitage” in Vaucluse, valued at an estimated $100m.
In recent years, the Merivale CEO has quietly bought a $60m beachfront enclave on Childe St in Byron Bay.
His holdings include an $18m dune-top beach shack and a $22m holiday compound.
Justin Hemmes and partner Madeline Holtznagel.
Hemmes’s primary Sydney base is the gothic heritage mansion “The Hermitage” in Vaucluse
Clive Palmer
Mining magnate and former politician Clive Palmer has been on a relentless spending spree along Gold Coast’s exclusive Hedges Avenue.
The billionaire now owns four luxury beachfront residences and vacant land on the strip, including a $28m compound, a $18.5m whole-floor penthouse, and a $12.6m beachfront holding.
Palmer, who started his career in Gold Coast real estate during the 1980s, openly admits he buys property in the region simply because he loves the location.
Mining magnate Clive Palmer. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian
The Multi-billionaire entrepreneur paid $12.6m for a luxury beachfront home along Gold Coast’s exclusive Hedges Avenue. .
Gina Rinehart
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, holds an extraordinary residential portfolio alongside millions of hectares of agricultural land.
In addition to her historic family estate on the Swan River in Perth’s Dalkeith and an $18.5m riverfront compound in Brisbane’s Hawthorne.
Rinehart executed a huge $76m spree in 2022, buying four prime homes in Noosa’s Sunshine Beach.
According to Hancock Prospecting’s website, Rinehart also owns tens-of-thousands of hectares in NSW and several hundred hectares in Victoria.
Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, holds an extraordinary residential portfolio. Picture: Supplied
Rinehart’s estate on the Brisbane River in Hawthorne was purchased for a total of $18.5m.
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes controls a private real estate empire valued between $300m and $350m. Picture: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
His collection is anchored by The Point Piper waterfront home. Picture:vimeo/Golden eye Media
Mike Cannon-Brookes
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes controls a private real estate empire valued between $300m and $350m.
His collection is anchored by Australia’s historic $100m residential purchase, the 1.12-hectare Fairwater estate in Point Piper.
His holdings also span $50m in Southern Highlands farmland, multiple waterfronts in Newport and Pittwater, a $15.2m city penthouse, and the tropical $24.5m Dunk Island resort in North Queensland.
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