Clive Palmer's Massive $215 Million Property Legacy Revealed

Aussie mining billionaire Clive Palmer’s family has amassed over 60 properties – two now listed for rent for up to $2,100 a week – as one of his children breaks rank spending $20m interstate. Unlike other richlisters like Gina Rinehart who diversify property holdings nationally, Mr Palmer has concentrated the family’s real estate investments in South East Queensland’s premium residential market – backing the area’s long term growth decades before Brisbane won the right to host the 2032 Olympics. MORE: $217m space deal to launch sleepy Aussie town into orbit More expensive than Sydney: Qld rent hits record high The family has spent over $215 million buying the properties they currently hold in their own names, according to property records, with the former politician’s SEQ empire spanning the Gold Coast’s most exclusive addresses – from nine consecutive waterfront blocks on Sovereign Islands to a $28 million mansion on Mermaid Beach’s ‘Millionaires Row’ – and stunning homes in Brisbane such as a sprawling half a kilometre of Brisbane River frontage in Fig Tree Pocket. Mr Palmer’s 31-year-old daughter Emily has six homes in SEQ but has become the first in the family to break away interstate. She has bought two homes in Sydney’s Paddington worth a combined $20 million – among them a $15.5 million mansion purchased in August last year. Her Sydney spending represents 79 per cent of her total property investment, showing a deliberate shift away from the family’s traditional SEQ focus. Ms Palmer’s property journey began before she was born – holding a Taringa house in her name that was purchased for $75,000 in 1982 when she was still years away from arriving. In April 2021, she co-ordinated a purchase with her father on the exact same day – buying a Wool Street property in Toowong for $2.6 million while Mr Palmer purchased another luxury home further down the same street. MORE: Big Aus bank delivers triple rate hike shock 50 ‘unsexy’ suburbs making Aussies rich that the hype ignores Of the mining richlister’s 30-plus personal titles bought for $165 million, four homes were jointly with wife Anna – who also has a further 10 properties in her own name spanning similar Gold Coast and Brisbane locations. Like her stepdaughter, some of Anna Palmer’s holdings date back decades, including properties originally purchased by Mr Palmer and later transferred to her name. She has in her portfolio a Little Mountain house purchased in 1990 for $100,000, building to a portfolio now worth nearly $50 million including the $28 million Mermaid Beach mansion purchased jointly with her husband in February 2024. She has proven to be an active and strategic buyer in her own right – purchasing two Paradise Point properties within days of each other in October 2023, a $2.85 million house and a $2.125 million apartment, as part of her concentrated eight-property holdings in the exclusive Sovereign Islands precinct. Mrs Palmer also owns a prestigious $2.675 million apartment in Brisbane’s Riparian Plaza in the CBD – the family’s only inner-city unit – purchased in January 2021. MORE: $398k wiped out: Aus suburbs where home prices fell the most Michael Palmer, 34, saw his property empire being built as a child – with his first property, a Brookfield home, purchased for $490,000 in 1997 when he was approximately five years old, demonstrating how the family structures wealth across generations. By his mid-20s, he was making major independent moves – acquiring a $5.1 million, 1.34-hectare Fig Tree Pocket estate in 2018, close to his father’s sprawling riverfront compound in the same exclusive Brisbane suburb. Mr Palmer junior showed aggressive accumulation tactics early, buying two Paradise Point properties in the same month – January 2012 – for a combined $2.14 million. Like his stepmother, some of his properties were originally purchased by Mr Palmer senior and later transferred. The family’s co-ordinated approach extends across their holdings, with both Emily and Michael Palmer owning properties in the same Yaroomba complex on Toolga Street. The family maintains an active rental portfolio, with two of Mr Palmer’s Paradise Point properties currently listed at prices that would generate an estimated 4.5 to 4.6 per cent gross rental yield – on top of the substantial capital gains they’re seeing. One is a King Arthurs Court waterfront property he bought for $2.395 million during the pandemic in September 2021, which is up for rent at $2,100 a week – the same price he listed it for two years ago. It is listed for rent by agent Sandy Morcom of Professionals Vertullo Real Estate Hope Island. The listing said “this new residence has been crafted for the ultimate in contemporary living” with soaring ceilings, clever zoning and views of the Surfers Paradise skyline. Automated RPData valuations put it at $2.925 million with an estimated price range of $2.338-3.507 million, with the 704 sqm block now containing a four-bedroom house with four bathrooms and a double garage. The second up for rent is listed by Island Realty Paradise Point agent Sarah Filippini at $1,950 a week, which is $100 more than it was put up for in 2024. It was also bought during the pandemic – for $2.2 million in July 2021, with an estimated value now of $3.25 million. The price range estimated by RPData if it hit the market for sale was $2.855-3.633 million. The 775sq m waterfront site also has a four bed, four bath house on it with a double garage. Mr Palmer senior is a prolific landbanker, paying $26 million for an absolute beachfront site on Hedges Ave in July 2024 with no fresh plans to develop – it is the last property he has bought in his own name. He has also shown patience, holding a Broadbeach Waters block he inherited from his mum Nancy Palmer in 2014 for more than a decade without selling.