slowdown and dance with.me.uk

Kylie's millions

By SUE HEWITT
04jul04

POP superstar Kylie Minogue and her family have amassed a secret Melbourne property portfolio worth $12 million.

The jewel in the Minogue real estate crown is a two-storey mansion in prestigious Monomeath Ave, Canterbury, where Kylie's parents, Ron and Carol, have set up home.
The 1940s house with tennis court and heated swimming pool is estimated to be worth $6 million, according to real estate sources.

They paid a mere $2.43 million two years ago, but their fortunes have improved with substantial growth in the leafy suburb.

Minogue, her parents, sister Dannii and brother Brendan, have built a solid real estate portfolio in the eastern suburbs where the singer went to school.

Titles Office records show they own 15 properties in Canterbury, Armadale and Richmond - with only one deviation from the eastern suburbs.

The family also owns a house in Don Valley, near Launching Place, 23km from the snowfields of Mt Donna Buang.

"They have a brilliant property portfolio," an agent, who did not wish to be named, said.

"Kylie and her family have bought in the dress circle of Melbourne real estate."

He said many of the properties were historic and popular with tenants, while shops, such as the two the family owns in Maling Rd, Canterbury, showed astute commercial judgment.

The Minogue empire is selling one its holdings - an ultra-modern two-bedroom residence in Abinger St, Richmond.

The property is believed to have been used as a residence for Ms Minogue's grandmother until recently.

"Abinger St is a top street close to everything and should sell for around $500,000," a property expert, who did not wish to be named, said.

Property titles searches showed the Minogues own a single-fronted timber house in Murray St, Richmond. "Murray St is a small, quiet street where a cute cottage would be worth around $450,000," an agent said.

In her own name, the pop queen owns a Victorian weatherboard property in Cambridge St, Armadale. It is one of the few streets in Melbourne with a heritage listing that protects the streetscape, adding value to a price tag of about $600,000.

A unit in Canterbury Rd, Canterbury added a further $450,000 to the Minogue coffers.

Kylie and Dannii have been seen over the years sipping coffee in Maling Rd, Canterbury.

A family company owns six units at Theatre Place, off Maling Rd, above shops. Real estate agents say each would be worth about $300,000, or $1.8 million for the set.

In Maling Rd, another family company owns two shops worth about $800,000 each.

Another agent said the Monomeath Ave property was the key to the family's property wealth.

"We are talking about three-quarters of an acre in one of the most prestigious streets in Melbourne - I would say it was close to $6 million," the agent said.