Anthony Albanese’s net worth: Labor leader is a secret property tycoon in Sydney, Canberra

Anthony Albanese started life as the only child of a single mother in an inner city council house – but the Labor leader is now a multi-millionaire property tycoon.

The man who would be Labor’s first Prime Minister in almost a decade has quietly been putting together a significant real estate portfolio.

Over the last 32 years, Mr Albanese been climbing the property ladder and now owns several homes worth around $5million in Sydney and Canberra. 

His burgeoning empire was highlighted by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Question Time on Thursday.

‘The leader of the Opposition has bought plenty of homes,’ said the PM. ‘He’s bought plenty more than I have. Good for him. Good luck to him. We celebrate success.’

Property records show the Opposition Leader, who earns $390,820 a year, currently owns:- 

• A luxury Federation bungalow in Sydney’s Marrickville worth some $2.5million, bought for $997,500 in 2006
• An upmarket investment rental property in nearby Dulwich Hill worth around $1.9million, bought for $1.175million in 2015
• And a plush Canberra pad for when he’s in Parliament worth around $600,000, bought for $162,000 in 1996.

He also banked his share of the 2021 sale of a $2.35million investment property he bought with former wife, ex-deputy NSW premier Carmel Tebbutt.

The couple had previously snapped up the investment property for $1.15 million in 2012, doubling their cash in just nine years after renting it out to tenants.

It was part of an extensive real estate buy-up by the career politician since leaving his mother Maryanne Albanese’s humble council home in Camperdown in 1990.  

‘My story began here in a council house in Camperdown,’ Mr Albanese has said. ‘Just me and my mum.’

With the exception of his Parliamentary pied-a-terre in Canberra, Mr Albanese, 58, has never strayed from the the inner west streets where he grew up and represents in Parliament.

Four of his homes have been on the very same Marrickville street, moving up and down the same quiet suburban road, which backs onto parkland and a golf course.

He first moved there in 1990 as a 26-year-old soon after he was elected Assistant General Secretary of the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party.

He bought his first home for $146,000 in February 1990 and held onto it for five years before selling it for a relatively modest $40,000 profit in 1995.

By then he had met his future wife Ms Tebbutt, and together they snapped up a new home together just up the road in Marrickville, which they bought for $242,000.

Soon after, Mr Albanese was elected to Federal parliament as the MP for inner west seat, Grayndler, in 1996, triggering the purchase of his Canberra pad for $162,000.

Under Parliamentary regulations, MPs can claim $291 a night expenses while in Canberra on official duties, even if it’s in a property they or their partner own. 

Mr Albanese’s most recent expenses showed he claimed $17,169 to stay in the flat for 54 days during Sydney’s lockdown, even although Parliament only sat for 19 days.

He is understood to have used his Canberra base – after undergoing mandatory isolation there following his arrival from NSW – to allow him to avoid quarantine requirements while flying interstate on parliamentary business. 

Neighbouring units in the apartment block in Barton, close to the Federal Parliament building, have recently sold for between $565,000 and $1.1million.

Parliamentary records show he no longer has a mortgage on the property. 

In 2000, Mr Albanese and Ms Tebbutt sold their Marrickville home for around $400,000 and moved to Newtown ahead of the birth of their son, Nathan, now 21.

They paid $646,000 for the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Chelmsford Street which they sold six years later for $755,000 to return to Marrickville.

The luxury home, on the same Marrickville street where Mr Albanese lived before, has a stunning backyard pool and boasts three bedrooms, two bathrooms, over a generous 519 square metres. 

Its back deck lies under a trellis canopy of grapevines, with a garden overfllowing with fragrant herbs like rosemary and mint.

The couple bought the property for $997,500 in April 2006 and is now believed to be mortgage-free, with current estimates, based on nearby sales, valuing the home at around $2.5million. 

Property records show the couple still own it today, although the ownership was adjusted in 2019 around the time the couple split and Mr Albanese now lives there with his son. 

In 2012, the couple snapped up an investment property just up the road yet again, paying $1.15million for a beautifully renovated three bedroom, two bathroom bungalow on 300 square metres of land.

The couple sold the home last year for $2.35million, doubling their investment in nine years after having rented out to tenants for an advertised $915 a week in 2014. 

Its new owners have since advertised it for rent at $1200 per week.

And most recently, in 2015, Mr Albanese dipped his toe into the real estate market once again, snapping up an investment property by himself in Dulwich Hill.

The sprawling three-bedroom, two bathroom townhouse spreads for 153 square metres over two levels with luxury modern finishes throughout.

Mr Albanese is believed to still have a mortgage on the property, but its value is conservatively estimated to have almost doubled now to around $1.9million.

The Labor leader is now rebuilding his life with new partner Jodie Haydon ahead of the coming election after splitting with his wife on New Year’s Day 2019.

He revealed earlier this year: ‘I found it very tough. The relationship was 30 years old.’

Now partner Jody is aware she could be in the glare of the spotlight of the upcoming election campaign. She has her own home in nearby Stanmore.  

‘The first time I was out with him, and people wanted photos and to shake his hand, it all felt completely surreal,’ Jodie revealed recently. 

‘I remember thinking, ‘Oh, that’s right, this guy is running for PM!’ I know the months ahead will be intense. But my focus will simply be to support each other through it.’