- Richard and Paula Sigley sold their Herne Bay villa for $8.65 million, $150,000 above RV.
- The sale is one of the highest for a non-waterfront home in Herne Bay this year.
- Herne Bay's market is active, with high demand and limited supply driving up prices.
New Zealand food legends Richard and Paula Sigley have sold their Herne Bay villa for over $8 million, OneRoof can reveal.
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The Sigleys, who have run some of the country's finest restaurants, including Euro and Soul Bar, listed their stylish home of 15 years earlier this year.
It was snapped up within three weeks, fetching $8.65 million - $150,000 above its RV - at auction. The Sigleys declined to comment on the sale, as did their listing agent, Bayleys' Edward Pack.
Richard and Paula Sigley made their names running high-class Auckland dining spots Euro and Soul Bar. Photo / New Zealand Herald
The Sigleys' villa was snapped up in March and fetched $150,000 above its RV. Its kitchen and entertaining spaces were a highlight. Photo / Supplied
The four-bedroom house on Masons Avenue was pitched to buyers as a "seductive family entertainer on one of Herne Bay’s most exclusive northern slopes avenues".
Fittingly, the listing highlighted the Sigleys' "arrestingly bold designer kitchen", noting its "warm dark timber, beautiful sleek marble, exquisite fittings, high-end appliances and a masterfully appointed scullery".
"Natural light bathes the entire space from the multiple floor-to-ceiling sliders that open the whole domain to the exterior hosting zone".
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Pack also make mention of the house's proximity to the celebrated Italian restaurant Andiamo, one of the fine-dining spots that the Sigleys ran as part of their Nourish Group business, which they sold in 2022.
The couple's $8.65m sale of Masons Avenue was a standout deal for other reasons. The sale price is one of the highest this year for a non-waterfront home in Herne Bay, although it did have some strong competition.
In May, Pack sold a near-new home on the same street for $6.5m - $200,000 above RV - at auction. More recently, Kellands agent Martin Dobson brokered some speedy deals in the suburb.
Kellands agent Martin Dobson sold this smartly presented villa on Jervois Road this month. Photo / Supplied
He sold a seven-bedroom heritage villa on Jervois Road within three weeks, and although he wouldn't comment on the sale price (the property has an RV of $7.4m) he did say the fact it sold on the day tenders closed "is enough to tell people" it met vendor price expectations.
The smartly renovated villa opened to a heated swimming pool complex and landscaped grounds, and was spread over three levels.
Dobson said the buyers had been looking for most of the year, and, like most people looking in the suburb, had a list of desired features that were surprisingly hard to find.
“There are a few families who are still looking now," he said, noting that some of them did not have budget limits.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne says it's no longer a buyer's market. Photo / Fiona Goodall
“There has not been a huge amount of opportunity in Herne Bay,” he said, telling OneRoof that he had sold two homes in the suburb this year within a day of them hitting the market.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne noted that there was a lot more activity in Herne Bay and neighbouring suburbs.
She recently sold a five-bedroom renovated bungalow on Vine Street, in St Marys Bay, to buyers who had grown tired of searching and wanted to be in a new house before Christmas.
She declined to disclose the sale price, but the property had an RV of just over $7m.
She said that the shortage of completely renovated family homes with four to five bedrooms and a pool meant budgets had ballooned well beyond the standard $4m for that market.
Buyers were having to spend "$5m or $6m, even $11m to get what they’re looking for now".
She added: "In my newsletter two weeks ago, I talked about ‘blink and it will be gone.’ If you think it is still a buyer's market, think again, because sellers will be hooking up with foreign buyers."
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