Cricket legend Shane Warne's Brighton mansion passes in at auction at $5.65m

Cricket great and prolific property flipper Shane Warne’s grand Brighton house passed in at auction at $5.65 million on Saturday, despite bidding from three parties in a process held away from public view.

The former Australian cricket captain had set a guide price of $5.8 million to $6.38 million for the Newbay Crescent property.

With a reserve set at $5.8 million, selling agent Jonathan Dixon of JP Dixon Real Estate was hopeful the home would sell later in the afternoon.

“We would have liked to have sold it under the hammer but we’re hopeful we will have a result this afternoon,” he said.

Mr Dixon said the hopeful buyers “were local people”.

The auction, held outdoors next to the oversized swimming pool, opened with a vendor’s bid of $5.5 million and rose slowly before reaching $5.65 million.

At this point, Mr Dixon went inside to seek instructions from his famous client, who was listening to the bidding from an upstairs room.

Warne was joined inside by several friends and family members, including his son Jackson and long-time friend and former St Kilda captain Aaron Hamill.

After consulting Warne, the auctioneer passed in the house a short time later.

It was one of 704 auctions scheduled in Melbourne on Saturday as the city’s real estate market continued to emerge from lockdown.

Warne paid $5.4 million for the home in early 2018, public records show.

He previously listed it for sale in mid-March, just as the world began to shut down to curb the coronavirus outbreak, with a price guide of $6.8 million to $7.4 million.

Set on 662 square metres of land in the sought-after bayside suburb, the house features five bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms and a four-car garage.

An entertainer’s dream, it boasts a pool and spa, a nightclub-quality bar, home theatre and wine-tasting room with space for 530 bottles.

The kitchen includes Miele appliances and Calacatta benches and there is an al fresco entertaining area past the open plan living/dining space.

Warne has been a busy property trader and his purchase of the home came soon after he offloaded an expansive near-$19 million block on the suburb’s sought-after Middle Crescent in another savvy deal.

It was a property so nice he owned it twice, dropping $3.6 million on the home in 2000 with ex-wife Simone Callahan and reportedly spending a similar sum in renovations before selling it for $8.8 million in 2007.

He bought it back for $14,249,999 in 2016, before selling again for $18,888,888.

Other addresses he has owned include a house at 16 Park Street, bought for $3.7 million in 2007 and sold for $6,775,000 in 2009, and 6 William Street – shared with actor Elizabeth Hurley after his separation from Callahan – bought for $7.55 million in 2009 and sold for $10.85 million in 2013.

Warne is rumoured to have bought into the new high-end Saint Moritz development in St Kilda, although details will not become public until settlement.