First published 29 Oct 2026, 5:00am
The landmark Newtown home Raith has sold for $6.8m.
There’s a new pinnacle to Geelong’s real estate market as a landmark 19th century Newtown residence changes hands for close to $7m.
Raith is a grand, renovated five-bedroom Newtown mansion atop the Deviation hill overlooking the Barwon River and Queens Park.
Contracts were signed last week to sell the Raith Terrace property to a Melbourne buyer for $6.8m.
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The sale, which went unconditional this week following a building and pest inspection, eclipses the $6.3m paid for the property in 2022 and becomes the most expensive house throughout Geelong, excluding Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast towns.
McGrath Geelong agents David Cortous and Georgie Shaw led the campaign to sell the 6434sq m Newtown estate, that was initially listed in mid-2025 with circa-$9m price hopes.
The home, which dates to 1864 with grand Victorian additions in 1885, has been owned by prominent merchants, solicitors, mayors and former Geelong Cats champion Bob Davis.
2a Raith Terrace, Newtown was extended through a renovated by Geelong’s David McDonald Builders.
A recent renovation and extension by Geelong builder David McDonald blended the home’s Victorian era heritage and added features such as a 25m lap pool, spa, sauna and gym and 8-car garaging.
Ms Shaw said the buyers from Melbourne instantly fell in love with the property.
“They have had a period home most of their life, so they’ve got an absolute love and a passion for Victorian homes,” she said.
“They did come down to Geelong and looked at about probably three other homes. The minute they came through Raith though they just said ‘Oh, Georgie, we’re done’.
The main living room opens through concertina doors to the expansive yard.
“Literally, they fell in love with it instantly. The period features, the timber-lined ceilings, the beautiful French doors, the architecture, the slate roof, the lacework, the beautiful point-tuck brick, all of it.”
Ms Shaw said the discerning buyers were quick to make a decision because it was what they’d been looking for.
“They’ve lived in Geelong before and are coming back to Geelong. They want to move their children into local schools and just have more of a lifestyle down here,” Ms Shaw added.
Ms Shaw said it’s a special home, and a rarity given it’s scale and landholding.
The home retains much of it’s rich period character.
“It’s an absolute anomaly, that’s really the only way to describe it,” she said.
“It’s a once-off legacy lifetime opportunity, I guess.
“And it has changed hands a little bit in the last few years, however, to me, there’s no other comparison. There was only one Raith.”
Mr Cortous said the agents had previously negotiated after receiving an earlier offer from a Geelong buyer on the property.
“Even though a Melbourne buyer bought that property, the majority of the interest actually came from Geelong,” Mr Cortous said.
A modern kitchen and separate butler’s pantry are at the heart of the home.
“It offered so much, and if you’re local you know the suburb of Newtown is premium, and to find that type of scale and luxury within the one property is pretty rare.
“It’s not like if you were looking at that particular property, you’re going to look at something else because there isn’t anything else.”
Newtown is Geelong’s premium suburb with a median house price of $1.14m and the most homes to sell for more than $4m.
An indoor pool and outdoor barbecue area are among a host of family-friendly features on the property.
Mr Cortous said even with a premium price, Raith offered significant value for the family buyers.
“If you look at that particular property, it still offered value to a buyer at that level with how big the land was and what was sitting on top. It’s actually good value,” he said.
“And that’s right the way through the market at the moment – there’s value there for a buyer right now for good properties,” he added.
“At that level, if you look at our premium market in Geelong, which is $2m to over $6m now, there’s good value in those in those properties because of what building costs have done over the past few years.”
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