Mark McGowan: Former WA premier’s Rockingham Beach Road home tipped to sell for more than $2 million

Former WA premier Mark McGowan is selling his Rockingham home, marking the end of an era for the seaside suburb and its most famous resident. Real estate agent Stefanie Dobro of White House Property said the Rockingham Beach Road home was seeking offers in the high millions but claimed the price could tip over $2 million in the competitive market. Mr McGowan and his wife Sarah spent two decades in the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home, and a total of 32 years in Rockingham. It is understood they have already moved into a new home in the Fremantle area to be closer to the schools and university their children attend. The listing ends nearly two years of speculation about a possible move, which started when the pair were seen at a home open for a $3m house in Highgate. At the time, Mr McGowan laughed off suggestions he was leaving the community he loved. But by last month it was clear they were leaving their Rockingham home, after staging a garage sale and packing boxes into removal vans. The sale will net the former premier a tidy profit after he bought the property for $527,500 in 2002, later knocking the original home down to build a new one. He almost recouped that amount in January 2022 when he sold off the 382sqm back garden, with a 159sqm side-access road, for $459,000. It adds to his growing income stream since leaving politics, which includes, a quarter-of-a-million-dollar-a-year pension, four business roles and occasional gigs as a high-end public speaker, at $15,000 a pop. Ms Dobro said the Webb & Brown-Neaves designed home was “an upside down house” with the kitchen, dining and main bedrooms upstairs and a second living area and three bedrooms downstairs. “People will ask why they are moving and it is just they are moving on to the next chapter, as so many people do as their children get older,” she said. Ms Dobro said the north-facing home would make a suitable holiday home for a Perth family, as it had the benefits of beachfront living without the long commute down south. She also spruiked Rockingham as a solid place to invest. “A friend of mine who is a real estate agent in Sydney called me two weeks ago to ask about investing in Rockingham for her children,” she said. The property is being staged and photographed today and will appear online later in the week.