Former prime minister Kevin Rudd and wife Therese Rein buy Pat Rafter's $17m former beach pad

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd and his wife Therese Rein have bought Pat Rafter’s former Sunshine Coast beach house for $17 million.

The spectacular beachfront trophy home in Noosa was listed late last year and sold this May, $3 million short of its original $20 million price guide.

The property was purchased by Rein, public records show, indicating a return to the Sunshine Coast where Rudd was born and raised.

Selling agent Dowling & Neylan Real Estate’s Karen Harman said the purchase has injected confidence back into the local market.

“We’re delighted that Therese has made the investment in the Sunshine Coast. They could have bought interstate and abroad,” she said.

She said beach front properties are few and far between on the particular stretch of beach, making them “prized” real estate.

“It activated buyers to move … Therese did lead the way with that shift in the market back in May.”

She said it was not unusual for properties to be negotiated from the asking price at the higher end of the market.

Vendor David Hales, a founder of Noosa-based chain Betty’s Burgers, and his wife Louise had completed a renovation of the seven-bedroom house.

Walls, floors, painting and electronics were upgraded and almost all equipment was replaced and improved, a listing agent said when it hit the market.

The couple bought the expansive property from the Rafters for $15.2 million, also short of its then $18 million asking price, in 2018.

Still, the former world number one and one-time darling of Australian tennis collected more in the one real estate deal than he made in his entire tennis career, where his earnings were almost $14 million.

The John Burgess-designed house was built for the Rafters after he paid $9.6 million for the 1285-square-metre block in 2006.