Mermaid mansion swap for newsreader

THE $14.5m buyers have been revealed for a breathtaking Hedges Ave home, built by Nine newsreader Eva Milic and developer husband Marcus Dore.

The couple won’t be moving far away, having settled a $16.5m purchase on nearby Albatross Ave on the same day.

Property records reveal new owners Penny-Anne and Richard Burgess took the keys to the three-level, five-bedroom, six-bathroom Hedges home (pictured) on April 8.

The Burgess pair are no strangers to the exclusive Multi-millionaire’s Row, having owned a unit in a duplex a few doors up. They paid $4m for it in 2015.

The sale of the unit for $8.25m, which settled on April 28, would likely have boosted their Hedges upgrade.

The Dores’ purchase of a nearby Mermaid Beach property, once part of jeweller Michael Hill’s portfolio, also settled on April 8. The properties were traded through Ms Milic’s married name, Eva Dore.

The two-level Albatross home was placed under the $16.5m contract on New Year’s Eve, three days after being listed.

No doubt popping the champagne that day were sellers Nick and Kate Salmon, who had bought the four-bedroom, five-bathroom home five years earlier for $6.15m.

The Salmons could also choose to stay in the popular neighbourhood after splashing $3.3m on a six-bedder in nearby Lavarack Ave in January.

The settlements come as property agent Michael Kollosche confirmed the record-breaking $21m sale of billionaire hotelier Chris Morris’s former four-level mansion at 159 Hedges.

The “pinnacle of architectural artistry and beachfront luxury” sold on May 2, less than a month after being listed on April 16.

The businessman, who has pub and leisure interests that take in North Queensland, bought the 1050sq m sixbedroom home on an elevated 564sq m lot, from a Chinese couple.