Chris Hasson, of Real Estate Friend, marketed the five-bedroom, four-bathroom residence with direct access to Wanda Beach.

It has an indoor swimming pool and spa, boathouse and stunning water views through floor-to-ceiling glass.

“It’s a beachfront record there, for that whole stretch,” Mr Hasson said.

“It’s the highest sale in the past eight years in the whole of Port Stephens, so it’s obviously set a new benchmark for the waterfront market.

“It was a strong auction with six registered bidders that were all bidding strongly, which is a demonstration of confidence in the top end.”

Mr Hasson ran a six-week marketing campaign and said interest was local as well as from out of town with a large portion from Sydney and a handful of international interested parties.

It was eventually secured by an out-of-town buyer.

“It was an amazing property and at the same time a very good result, which just shows the confidence in the market,” Mr Hasson said.

“In general, there are a lot of baby boomers exiting Sydney and we are getting a lot of interest, especially in more prestige properties. That’s been a general consensus we’ve seen, not only in this campaign, but through other top-end properties.”

According to Australian Property Monitors, the highest previous sale in Salamander Bay was $3.45 million for a property in Soldiers Point Road in 2015.