+ Top sales of the year
High five sell for total of $62.2m — 22 per cent lower than 2018’s top-five total
The highest-priced house sales this year were for a clifftop mansion in Auckland that looked as if was built for James Bond and a modern lodge in Queenstown that will likely be knocked down.
10 Jackson Cres, Mahurangi, which boasts a media room, 20m heated indoor pool, garaging for nine cars and a helicopter pad, was bought by an expat last month for “very close” to the $14.75 million asking price.
But the top sale was for a four-bed 450sq m home on 14.6ha at 516 Ladies Mile, in Lake Hayes, bought by Queenstown Council for $15.5m for development.
All are a lot behind last year’s top sales, when developers Paula and Simon Herbert bought a house in Herne Bay for $27.7m, and a luxury Italianate-style house on Cliff Rd, St Heliers, sold for $17.6m.
This year’s top five sales totalled $62.2m — 22 per cent lower than 2018.
“The top end of the market has felt the squeeze this year,” OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan says. “The foreign buyer ban has reduced the pool of wealthy buyers who can afford to break sale records. Buyers tend to be expats who have made their coin overseas and are looking to return.
“Typically, what has sold for big money this year are exclusive waterfront homes or homes on large plots of land with development potential.”
OneRoof data, to be published in the Property Report tomorrow, shows the total value of sales for New Zealand is down 24 per cent year on year. And the $1 billion sales suburb of Remuera is unlikely to hit $900,000 this year.
However, James Wilson, valuation director at OneRoof data partner Valocity, says despite the slowdown in the $3m-plus market, agents have started to report interest rising.
“Activity is strongest for luxury properties that offer high-end, residential accommodation, as opposed to larger land holdings.”
Other top sales this year include 20 Omaha Block Access Rd, near Leigh, which sold in March for $12m; 27 Hanene St, St Heliers, which sold a month later for $10.5m; 14 Aumoe Ave, St Heliers, which sold for $10.2m; and 9 Bourne St, Mt Eden ($9.5m).
An expat buyer paid $9m for an estate on Waiheke Island owned and extensively renovated by former Hanover owner Mark Hotchin. The 1.8ha estate has a helipad, pool, gym, tennis court and separate guest accommodation.
Waiheke Real Estate agent Warren Eade, who brokered the deal, says the high end of the island has stalled since but not because of big foreign dollars deserting.
“Foreigners didn’t buy much property in Waiheke; 95 per cent of sales were to New Zealanders or expats.”
However, foreigners not buying in Auckland or Queenstown may have affected his buyers, who would be unable to offload city properties to upgrade on the island.
Eade observed there is still a flurry
The top end of the market has felt the squeeze this year.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan
of billionaire activity, but mostly in Northland where they are building luxury houses, rather than buying existing stock. On Waiheke sensitive island ecology means restrictions on resource consents for development.
NZ Sotheby’s International Queenstown agent Gerard Bligh signed the South Island’s next top deal of $8.375m for a luxury country estate at 98 Domain Rd in Dalefield in June.
Bligh says generally properties at that price take about six months to sell, but he is seeing an active spring and summer market and inventory is well down.
A 56ha gated property in Hawea Flat achieved $6.325 and another modern lodge in Wanaka’s exclusive Heaton Park enclave made $5.75m.
Christchurch’s biggest sale was the Victorian house at 83 Clyde Rd, Ilam, once owned by suffrage leader Kate Sheppard. Heritage New Zealand bought it in March, but the sale was not announced until September 19 to coincide with the 126th anniversary of women winning the vote.
Beachfront properties in Mt Maunganui went for $6m, another reached $4.175m. Agents reported further sales of $6m and $5.5m, but these are yet to appear in council records. The biggest surprise of the year was a country estate in Pyes Pa Rd that went for $4.85m in April.
Cameron Macneil owner of luxury real estate agency Oliver Road, who brokered the deal, said it was an outlier in every respect for the Bay of Plenty, where the big sales are usually confined to the Mount Maunganui area.
“In the rest of Tauranga, $1.5 to $2m is the upper end, but things are a little bit random at the moment.” He said returning ex-pats with international amounts of money are buying.
“We just sold an Otumoetai property for $3.5m and they were firsthome buyers, Kiwis who worked in the tech industry overseas.
“A lot of them grew up here, or holidayed here, or their parents have retired here so they’re bringing kids back to be near Mum and Dad.”
Macneil says the Auckland businessman who paid $4m for AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd’s Harbour Drive pad already had a place on Mt Maunganui that he was planning to demolish.
But, rather than go through a threeyear build, he flicked it off for $3m to buy one where the work was already done. Which explains how a luxury new build a block from the beach, on Muricata Ave, went for $3.6m.
Macniel expects records will be broken this summer as two “incredible” properties he’s about to list will likely go for over $10m.
He says buyers are still there to pay those prices for the right property.