How the super rich live on fantasy island
There are baches that ordinary Kiwis aspire to and then there are the baches that only a Lotto win would secure. Waiheke Island has some of the most luxurious, although not everyone gets a coveted sea view even if they do part with several million dollars.
And anyway, that panoramic view is not always as important as being close to a boat ramp for easy access for the Sealegs, an amphibious boat, says Matthew Smith, owner of Waiheke Real Estate.
At the time of interview, Smith had just listed a high-end property on Kennedy Point Road. The vendors had just completed a two-year $3 million renovation of the home, which sits on a 3700sqm estate, a short walk from the new car ferry.
“Hardly ever does anything like this come to the market on Waiheke,” Smith says.
“We’re not saying a price, but smart people can do the math,” Smith says, adding that the property’s $7.6m CV doesn’t even get close to the likely price buyers will pay (the vendors themselves paid nearly $4m for the un-renovated property 14 years ago).
Smith says that the four-bedroom house, designed by noted architect Simon Carnachan, has a spectacular 300-degree ocean view almost to the Coromandel and includes a luxurious new kitchen and bathrooms, European oak flooring, new double glazing, and gib board throughout and, on the outside, new cedar siding reclad with a cavity system and new roofing.
Earlier this year, Smith’s agency sold a section for $3.1m. The new owners plan to build a bach right by the boat ramp. Another buyer went on to pay $3.2m for an old house that sits behind it even though the view will now be blocked out. “The buyer is going to bowl the old house that’s on there and build a new house that will have no view of the water and obviously by the time he builds a house he’s going to be over $5m.”
What’s important to these buyers is the location, Smith says, because they can put the Sealegs in the water nearly straight across the road. Not only that, the buyers of the old house live in the city and will be able to motor across and drive straight to their bach in their boat.
On Palm Beach, Wall Real Estate has just listed a five-bedroom home on a massive 1700sqm double section on the beachfront at 43 Palm Road. It has a CV of $9.3m, but is expected to fetch more than $10m.
The 17-year-old architect-designed house also features one of the vintage train carriages rescued from Parnell’s White Heron hotel before it was torn down, now repurposed as a sleepout.
“We expect it to sell for over $10m. In 2018 the neighbouring property sold for $7.5m, and that has less than half the land size,” says Ollie Wall, who is marketing the property with Graham Wall.
“Palm Beach is one of the only places on Waiheke where you can have a truly beachfront home without a road between you and the beautiful white sand.” He adds that the company is setting up a base on the island as they expect to do much more business there in the coming years.
And on one of Waiheke’s highest points, Omiha, Bayleys agent Mana Tahapehi is marketing a fivebedroom estate on 3.9ha at 1 O’brien Road. Tahapehi, who is showing the house to buyers with budgets of over $8m, says he is seeing more international buyers, mainly expat Kiwis, helped by the weak Kiwi dollar.
“It makes things a lot more attractive, that’s US$1M less than last year. For that you have total privacy, but you’re only minutes from Onetangi,” he says. The 463sqm accommodation is split between the main house and two self-contained guest units.
As well as the swimming pool and spa pool, the property includes a sauna/steam room and cabana with an open-air fireplace, set in native bush and a productive fruit and vegetable garden.
Earlier this year Tahapehi closed the deal for a Church Bay Road home for $9.2m, which is now undergoing an extensive renovation.
The island is bursting with award-winning architecture.
Ray White agents Keith Dowdle and Mike Simpson are marketing a striking timber home on 28 Coromandel Road, Waiheke, that won architects Stevens Lawson a New Zealand Institute of Architects award in 2019. The three-bedroom home on 1047sqm, which has a tender closing November 2, is billed as a Sealegs drive from the water edge at Sandy Bay.
Buyers are also coming to the island from other rich-lister holiday towns.
Smith recently sold a section at exclusive Wawata Estate on the island to an oral surgeon who has sold his bach at Omaha and who is also building another house in Queenstown. In another sale, a couple from Queenstown bought a house in Oneroa for $6.5m and are planning a $3m renovation.
“They live in Queenstown and this is their Waiheke bach.”
Smith says for buyers of baches costing around $5m or $6m the locality is more important than the view, but for holiday homes worth $10m or more, then both are important: “They want the location and the view.”
Wealthy people come to him with a list of requirements but often have to compromise because of limited stock: “We don’t often have a decent handful of really good quality high-end homes at all, let alone close to the beach or close to the ferry with big views.”
Among the requirements is privacy and often people want to be able to come and go by helicopter, which is not often available. People also want a principal suite away from the rest of the house so when guests stay they maintain their privacy, and they like to have multiple living spaces.
Like other coastal spots, Smith has noticed new trends on Waiheke, saying people are not only living in their bach more nights a week but many people have upgraded the property.
“People want more quality now. They want everything to offer much greater lifestyle so the bach might have just been a simple bach but they’ve put in new kitchens, new bathrooms, they’ve put the spa pool in, they’ve put fireplaces in.
“Everyone’s kind of pimped up their baches to be a lot more luxurious so they’re okay to spend more time there.”