Jacinda Ardern and husband Clarke Gayford buy $5.3m home in Sydney’s northern beaches

Jacinda Ardern and her husband, Clarke Gayford, have bought a $5.3m home in Sydney’s northern beaches, according to a source with knowledge of the sale.

The former New Zealand prime minister settled on a home in Dee Why after looking at properties in the area including in nearby Curl Curl.

The sale – handled by Raine & Horne Northern Beaches and first reported by the Sydney Morning Herald – is the biggest the suburb has recorded this year, according to the source familiar with the transaction.

The Guardian has contacted Gayford and a representative for Ardern for comment.

In February, Ardern’s office confirmed she was living in Australia, following media reports that she, her husband and their daughter, Neve, had attended open home viewings in Sydney’s northern beaches.

“The family has been travelling for a few years now,” a spokesperson from her office told the Guardian at the time.

“For the moment they’re basing themselves out of Australia – they have work there, and it brings the added bonus of more time back home in New Zealand.”

The spokesperson did not elaborate on when the family arrived in Australia nor what kind of work they were doing, but noted it was not unusual for former leaders to spend time overseas after leaving office.

Ardern announced her retirement from politics in January 2023, after five years as New Zealand’s prime minister and the leader of the country’s Labour party.

When she was elected to the top job in October 2027, Ardern became the world’s youngest-serving female leader, aged 37, and later became the second woman to give birth while holding elected office.

Since leaving office, Ardern has taken up dual fellowship roles at Harvard University, continued her work on the Christchurch Call – a project she established to combat online extremism after the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings – and joined the board of trustees of Prince William’s Earthshot prize.

New Zealand has been grappling with a surge in the number of citizens leaving the country because of a weak economy, high living costs and high unemployment. Many of these people have moved to Australia.

• Additional reporting by Eva Corlett