TV Queen Sonia Kruger revealed as “mystery” buyer of $16.1 million Mosman knock down.

By ANNA USHER

The mystery local buyer of a Mosman knock down purchased for a stunning $16.1 million last weekend is Gold Logie winner Sonia Kruger and her partner Craig McPherson.

The deceased estate at 13 Stanley Ave, with panoramic views over Balmoral, sold under the hammer and smashed the reserve price by $4.6 million.

It is believed McPherson was at the auction and doing the bidding, alongside six other hopefuls.

The three-bedroom property, in original condition,

Atlas Lower North Shore’s Adrian Bridges and co-agent Priscilla Ouvrier said they couldn’t confirm who bought the 743sqm site.

Bidding opened at $10m, and after a flurry of $500,000 bids quickly surpassed the $11.5 million reserve.

Increments ranging from $250,000 to $100,000 then took the price to $14 million before two buyers bid in $100,000 lots until the house sold under the hammer for $16.1 million.

Selling agent Adrian Bridges, of Atlas Lower North Shore, said: “We didn’t have much guidance because the property was always going to be sold [at auction].”

It was “probably a knockdown”, he said, but buyers had a lot of confidence in investing in the street because it held the Balmoral price record of $33 million.

“This will ultimately become a trophy home,” Bridges said. “So, for this one to sell for this level kind of speaks to the buyer’s confidence that a finished product is going to be, you know, up in the sort of $30 [million] to $40 million range.”

It’s understood the pair intend to demolish the old home, previously owned Mosman’s Psaltis family, and rebuild on the premium block.

Kruger and McPherson sold their five-bedroom Stanton Rd residence through Michael Coombs just a few weeks ago for around $20 million.

Their purchase was one of 1402 scheduled to go to auction in Sydney last week. The clearance rate was 66 per cent, with 187 auctions withdrawn.