Recently returned local Ricky Stuart has confirmed he is the mystery tenant living in the executive-style home of former prime minister and now retired politician Kevin Rudd.

Mr Rudd and wife Therese Rein sold their Canberra home in September for more than $2 million and the buyers decided to lease the house.

Stuart has been renting the property, described by the selling agent as one of Canberra's finest residences, for almost a month.

While he was aware that it used to be Mr Rudd's house, it was location rather than reputation that attracted him to the former prime minister's home – his wife's sister also lives in the same suburb.

But Stuart, protective of his family, particularly his children, didn't want to comment and was a little embarrassed by the fuss.

"I'm a local boy, I don't want anybody to see me as anybody different," the Queanbeyan-born Stuart said.

"I don't see myself as a high-profile person. I'm just fortunate to be back home and coaching the Raiders."

There had been persistent rumours for years that Stuart had purchased a house in Red Hill, and conspiracy theorists suggested he would be returning to coach his former NRL club, the Canberra Raiders.

While he has come back to coach the team, that Red Hill home never became part of Stuart's portfolio.

The house in Yarralumla had been listed for sale in May with a $2.25 million price tag and was taken off the market in June.

Peter Blackshaw Woden and Weston Creek sales agent Shane Killalea confirmed the property had been sold in September after the buyer “had made an offer that was too good to refuse”.

He said the purchasers were locals who had looked through the property when it was first on the market and had decided to buy the home a few months later.

Mr Killalea said the home had sold for a price “with a 2 in front of it” but did not want to reveal the exact amount.

Described during the marketing campaign as a “sophisticated and luxurious home” the property features five bedrooms, formal Italianate gardens, a swimming pool and a spiral staircase.

Mr Rudd and his wife bought the Yarralumla home while son Marcus was completing school in Canberra and they left at the end of 2011.

The newly retired member for Griffith is not the only former prime minister to be adjusting a property portfolio.

Julia Gillard has put her Melbourne Altona home on the market 15 years after entering politics in the electorate of Lalor.

The three-bedroom brick property with a single lock-up garage will be auctioned on December 14.