- Many $10m-plus homes are sold off-market, prioritising discretion and privacy, says Alexandra Vincent Martelli.
- Martelli emphasises the importance of buyer qualification and due diligence in high-end property transactions.
- Luxury buyers are often entrepreneurs with self-made wealth, seeking high-quality finishes and space.
Anyone lucky enough to be in the market for a mansion might be surprised to learn that many of the $10 million-plus homes for sale in New Zealand are largely hidden from public view.
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That’s because many properties in this price bracket are listed off-market, according to buyer’s agent Alexandra Vincent Martelli, of Martelli Buyer’s Agents.
Martelli, who finds homes in some of Auckland’s most exclusive suburbs for time-pressed buyers, says sellers at the upper end of the market prefer to stay under the radar. “The thing about people who are selling their properties at that $10m level is they appreciate discretion, privacy, confidentiality.”
OneRoof data and reporting show 23 residential sales in 2025 for over $10m, of which around half were sold off-market. Two of the year's biggest sales, the $35m purchase of the Herne Bay home of rich-lister property developer Ben Cook and the circa $40m purchase of a large estate on Remuera’s Arney Road, were all hush-hush.
Martelli Buyer’s Agents founder Alexandra Vincent Martelli: “The challenge with buying a $10m property is finding comparable sales.” Photo / Supplied
Martelli says that when she set up her business a few years ago, after stints in Australia and the UK, she started a database of off-market properties worth over $5m.
She views about two a week for off-market sale for her clients, she says, noting that sellers won’t show their homes to just anyone.
“Buyers need to be speaking with the top 20 agents, depending on the area they’re looking in and say, ‘Can you please make these opportunities available to me?’ Now, those agents are going to want to qualify you as a buyer.”
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Martelli says this takes hours of work, and buyers should expect to be quizzed on their expectations, motivations and financial capabilities. “Neither agents nor vendors want to spend their time on people who aren’t qualified to buy the home.”
That’s where a buyer’s agent comes in, finding and vetting committed buyers and matching them with prospective properties through selling agents. “We charge a retainer up front, and we ask a lot of questions of our buyers, in terms of what’s important to them, what it’s worth to have certain things.”
Martelli Buyer’s Agents then searches and finds properties for the buyer, some of whom are paying cash and some who are part-financed. Those being financed usually need to provide the bank with a property valuation.
Martelli says that $10m buyers still have to do their due diligence, noting that the more expensive the home, the more buyers should expect to pay for a building report. “The homes tend to be larger, so things like your building inspections will be more comprehensive and take more time for the inspector to go through.
“On the flip side, more expensive properties typically are higher quality.”
Understanding value is a tricky part of buying at the high end of the market. Buyers are often reliant on sales agents to provide a price guide. “The challenge with buying a $10m property is finding comparable sales,” Martelli says. “Because a lot of these transactions are happening quietly, it can be difficult to go, ‘Well, what’s that home actually worth if I’ve only seen one or two?’.”
Martelli says the main difference between a $10m home and a $1m one is “space”.
“You would expect a good amount of land around you if that’s what’s important to you,” she told OneRoof. “Ten million dollars should typically get you much higher finishes, i.e. you should be looking at granite or marble, beautiful French oak flooring, very high-end and imported appliances.
Arney Road, in Auckland’s Remuera, is home to some of the country’s most expensive properties. Photo / Chris Tarpey
“Multiple ovens. You would be expecting to have a butler’s pantry. You would expect but not always get internal garaging.”
And of course, a water view, although Martelli says sometimes this is a partial view because Auckland properties are so expensive now that $10m might not buy a dream home.
“So $10m buys you a beautiful home, but for many people, there’ll still be something that is sacrificed.”
The types of people in the market for prestige real estate are largely entrepreneurs, Martelli says. “Almost all of the clients we work with above $5m have in some way been involved with business. They have founded a business and sold it, or they have built up a business and sold part of it, or they just have a business that’s doing very, very well.”
She says she has yet to take on a client who is a Lotto winner (to her knowledge). “We don’t get many ‘trust fund’ buyers or people who have been gifted the money. It’s generally self-made money.”
Queenstown-Lakes has become a magnet for younger buyers who have made their money "through entrepreneurial means". Photo / Getty Images
Luxury Real Estate New Zealand directors Terry Spice and Nick Horton, who operate at the top end of the market in Queenstown, says buyers often reach out to them at the start of their search.
“We’re generally working with buyers who have a good awareness of what they are looking for,” Spice says. “We’re then able to keep them up to date with new opportunities that fit their requirements before they come to the open market.
“Matching customers with properties is a key part of what we do. It’s not just a case of advertising them online.”
Horton says those selling do so for a variety of reasons. “Many domestic and international buyers see an asset here as a legacy property, but may not be able to commit to full-time living in the area.”
Spice says the agency’s buyers are a mix of older, multi-generational wealth and people who’ve been successful in business or property. “There’s also a younger demographic coming through who have perhaps built wealth through entrepreneurial means,” he says.
“Australians and overseas buyers account for a good proportion of sales at that level, but, of course, there are certain restrictions and challenges to navigate in some of these instances.”
Horton says not everyone has an upper limit; some buyers are more interested in finding the right property. “In saying that, we are currently working with a buyer who has a budget of $40m.”
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