Rich-List Whyte family cash in on Bellevue Hill's bull run on property

Bellevue Hill’s high-end property market is proving to be one of the most bullish, with a slew of big-ticket sales lining the pockets of well-heeled local home owners.

The most recent sale is the grand four-bedroom house owned by Arabella Rayner, daughter of property and equity market Rich-Lister Robert Whyte, and her husband, F45 director Damien Rayner, for about $9 million.

Independent sources say it sold to a local buyer, although soon after it was removed from property sites the selling agent Brad Pillinger, of Pillinger, said it had been withdrawn from sale.

The run of sales shows house values in Bellevue Hill have more than doubled in the past decade.

The colonnaded Kambala Road residence last traded in 2008 for $3.92 million from corporate trainer Ron Allen and his wife Christina, and has been a rental in recent years while the Rayners have been living in Los Angeles.

Ms Rayner is a director of her father’s private investment vehicle Audant Investments, and records show he holds the mortgage over the Bellevue Hill property.

Mr Whyte was ranked on last year’s Financial Review Rich List 200 as the 141st richest person in Australia with an estimated worth of $731 million.

The sale comes soon after Pillinger sold the nearby investment house of Seven’s commercial director Bruce McWilliam for more than $9 million, just days after it hit the market and for almost double the $4.72 million paid in 2007.

On Tuesday the well-heeled neighbourhood clocked up its first sale of almost $20 million when the six-bedroom mansion owned by stockbroker Robert Fiani was sold by Ray White Double Bay’s Elliott Placks and Sotheby’s Michael Pallier.

The Victoria Road property had last traded in 2005 for $8.35 million.

Bellevue Hill’s median house price rose 5 per cent in the 12 months to December to a median of $5.8 million, making it one of the most expensive suburbs in the country, according to Domain Data.