- A Remuera estate sold for around $40m, setting a new Auckland house price record.
- The sale surpasses the previous $38.5m record but is below the $45.5m national record.
- Agents believe this will lead to more high-value sales, with $40m becoming the new benchmark.
A sprawling estate on one of New Zealand’s wealthiest streets has broken Auckland’s house price record, selling for circa $40 million, OneRoof can reveal.
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The prestige property on Arney Road, in Remuera, was snapped up by a mystery buyer earlier this year.
Prestige agents believe the record sale will lead to bigger deals, telling OneRoof that $40m was the new $20m at the upper end of the market.
The sale price surpasses the $38.5m Chinese businessman Stone Shi paid in 2013 for the Orakei mansion built by failed financier Mark Hotchin.
The Arney Road property is one of the largest in Remuera and was sold to a mystery buyer earlier this year. Photo / Supplied
The sale price breaks the long-time record of $38.5m held by the former Hotchin mansion in Auckland’s Orakei. Photo / Supplied
However, it’s several million off the nationwide house price record of $45.5m, set by Queenstown’s Chantecler estate in 2023.
The Arney Road property was bought by the vendor in 2000 for $6.75m. The New Zealand Herald reported at the time that he was a New Zealander who had been working in the computer industry in California.
OneRoof reached out to the vendor, but he had not responded at the time of publication. The agency involved in the off-market deal declined to comment.
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The 1ha-plus property, the largest on Arney Road, overlooks the harbour and boasts a nearly 1000sqm house with five bedrooms and garaging for four cars as well as a tennis court and swimming pool. The lavishly landscaped grounds are arranged in Balinese-style pavilions and gardens.
The estate, formerly known as Woodville, was once owned by Hugh Wright, founder of the menswear chain. The Wright family renovated the main Victorian house, built in the 1850s, replaced the stables with a modern garage, and upgraded a cottage for staff accommodation.
The property was also briefly owned by entrepreneur Diane Foreman and her late husband Bill Foreman.
The couple bought the estate in 1998 for $6.5m with the intention of building a retirement village there, but after neighbourhood objections, they sold up in 2000.
Former owner Diane Foreman sold the Arney Road property in 2000 for $6.75m. Photo / Nick Reed
The original house at the Arney Road estate was relocated and replaced with a modern mansion. Photo / Supplied
The original house was relocated to South Head, Kaipara, in the mid-2000s and replaced with the current mansion.
OneRoof canvassed Auckland’s top agents for their reactions to the sale. All reacted positively and believed more records would tumble as a result of the Government’s decision to loosen New Zealand’s foreign buyer rules.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen said a sale this size had come at the right time. “You just need one of these big boy sales to set the scene and start the stampede. It’s going to stimulate the market. Typically, if you get one big sale, there’ll be two or three more that follow. People go, ‘Well, the market must be good, it must be taking off’.”
Neshausen said he knew of several big properties worth around $20m that were likely to come to market in the coming months, and several others looking for off-market deals.
Ray White prestige agent Ross Hawkins: “If you’re spending in pounds or US dollars, then New Zealand seems cheap compared to other countries.” Photo / Fiona Goodall
Chantecler, in Queenstown, is still the country’s most expensive house, selling for $45.5m in 2023. Photo / James Allan
He added: “$40m is the new $20m. Twenty years ago, $20m was unheard of in New Zealand, but $20m no longer gets you the dearest house on the street anymore.”
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins agreed that more big sales would follow.
“If you’re spending in pounds or US dollars, then New Zealand seems cheap compared to other countries. I think a sale like this will definitely feed through into the higher end,” he told OneRoof.
He noted that the sale would set expectations for the upper, upper end of the market. “If $40m is the magic number, once it is cracked, then I suppose overseas people or expats will want to know what else is for sale at that level. It sets a benchmark.
“It won’t be a rush, but it gives buyers confidence to pay those sorts of figures. All you have to do is look at Sydney and the numbers people pay there. The next benchmark to crack will be $50m. Bring it on.”
Bayleys agent Sarah Liu said that there were overseas buyers out there with $35m to $40m budgets. “I have the buyers, but there are not many properties on the market at that level. I don’t do door-knocking, but sometimes you have a contact with a house they might want to sell, some at $40m. You need to match them to your buyers to get a good marriage.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Remuera
