Peppy Grove sale sets early 2023 high

A house in Peppermint Grove has set the benchmark for 2023 residential sales, with almost $11.4 million paid for the former residence of a major mining leader.

South32 chief executive Graham Kerr had listed the Keane Street address as his residence until a recent move to a new property in Mosman Park, which he acquired in December for $5.9 million.

The buyer is Scott Perry, a director of the World Gold Council and, until recently, president and chief executive of Centerra Gold, a Toronto-based resources company.

Mr Perry has been based in Canada but was a Curtin University student in the early 1990s and his early career included Perth-based roles among an international portfolio of jobs at firms such as Barrick Gold Corporation and Lachlan Star.

The Keane St address. Photo: realestate.com

The Keane Street address was last sold for $4.5 million in 2013, acquired under the name of Mr Kerr’s wife, Nicole. A year later, development approval was granted for a single dwelling to be constructed for $5 million.

Listed for sale in July last year, the Peppermint Grove property was sold by Vivien Yap whose Ray White agency campaign material stated that the 1,821 square metre property, with an architectural masterpiece by builder Giorgi, was just “metres from the river's edge and Freshwater Bay Yacht Club”. It offered six bedrooms, a study, five bathrooms and two powder rooms in a “jaw-dropping” luxury home with a six-car garage.

The Peppermint Grove property. Photo: realestate.com

According to CoreLogic’s RP Data, the sale price is the sixth highest for a single residential property in WA in the past 12 months and the highest this calendar year.

In a separate transaction, property records show Nicole Kerr acquired a $5.5 million home in City Beach last month. The property deals come after a December stock market announcement that Mr Kerr had disposed of half his ordinary shares in South32 as part of a divorce settlement. His remaining shareholding is valued at almost $10 million.