- Most high-end homes in Hawke’s Bay remain off-limits to overseas buyers due to size and value restrictions.
- Two properties tipped to sell for well over $5m will still require Overseas Investment Office approval for foreign buyers.
- Local interest is strong, but overseas enquiries are mainly directed at Queenstown and Wānaka.
Most of Hawke’s Bay’s high-end homes will remain off-limits to overseas buyers even when the foreign buyer ban softens because they are either not worth enough or too big.
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Two properties have hit the market in the Hawke’s Bay with price indications from $7m, including one over $10m. Both would be out of bounds for holders of the new Active Investor Plus visa because they sit on rural land of more than 5ha.
The immaculately renovated five-bedroom, six-bathroom home on a 5.59ha section at 152 Kopanga Road, in Havelock North, just exceeds the cut-off, while the estate at 751 Wakarara Road, in Ongaonga, on 24.7ha is well over the limit. In both cases, foreign buyers would require approval from the Overseas Investment Office.
The five-bedroom, six-bathroom heritage home on Kopanga Road has undergone an extensive, high-quality renovation over four years. Photo / Supplied
The property sits on more than 5ha of land, meaning foreign buyers would need approval from the Overseas Investment Office before they can own it. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Fiona Mackenzie, who is selling 152 Kopanga Road, said it was hard to predict who would buy the stunning estate, which was tipped to sell for more than $10m.
The last big sale in Hawke’s Bay was at the end of 2023, when Xero founder Rod Drury got $12m for his mansion on Duart Road, in Havelock North. Mackenzie said there had been expectations that Drury’s home would sell to someone overseas, but it was actually snapped up by a local.
“The locals are here, and it’s possible that they could be buying high-end, but we would be mad not to promote properties like that nationally and internationally,” Mackenzie told OneRoof.
“There are people in Hawke’s Bay who have got the money, but whether 152 Kopanga Road is of interest to them, I don’t know.”
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She had noticed an uptick in overseas enquiries, but much of it was directed at Queenstown and Wānaka. “The market in Hawke’s Bay for the overseas buyer is quite small,” she said.
Mackenzie said the 1914s heritage home at 152 Kopanga Road was one of the region’s oldest homesteads and one of the best.
“The owner bought it in 2018 and spent four years restoring it. Everything in there is of incredible quality. It’s got the most beautiful feel inside. It’s got a whole new layout.”
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Fraser Holland told OneRoof that there had been international interest in 751 Wakarara Road, but those buyers would still need approval from the Overseas Investment Office.
A sprawling country estate with eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms at 751 Wakarara Road, Ongaonga, in Central Hawke’s Bay is one of the largest single-level homes in NZ. Photo / Supplied
The owners are selling the large home on 24ha and will retain the surrounding farm. Photo / Supplied
Holland said the property, which comprises a five-bedroom, six-bathroom main dwelling and two small cottages, had an RV of $7m and buyer interest was being invited at that level.
He said it was an amazing home and one of the biggest, if not the biggest, single-level properties he had come across. It is also thought to be one of the largest in New Zealand.
The owners bought the farm it sits on seven years ago and have now decided to sell the homestead, but keep the farm.
Mint Realty agent Nic Goodman said changes to the foreign buyer ban were unlikely to affect the top end of Hawke’s Bay’s housing market.
Goodman’s own listing, a 1914s estate at 1549 Raukawa Road, in Raukawa, Hastings, sits on 10.23ha, which would make it a difficult purchase for foreign buyers.
Another difficulty for the region is that few properties there meet the criteria. “It basically has to be more than $5m and less than 5ha,” Goodman said.
Most higher-end residential properties hovered around the $3m mark, while those worth more than $5m usually sat on more than 5ha.
A beautiful home at 151 Durham Drive, in Havelock North, is looking for over $3.3m. Photo / Supplied
Nash Kelly Global consultant Stuart Nash said there would be "limited" interest from foreign buyers in Hawke’s Bay. Photo / Warren Buckland
“I get lots of enquiries from international buyers, but as soon as you direct them to the Overseas Investment Office website, you don’t hear from them again,” she said.
However, expats were also showing interest in the region, she said. Their budgets were usually capped out at around $3m, which still got them a luxury home.
Goodman sold a beachfront property on Harper Road, in Waimarama, for $3m, which was the highest residential sale in the area for some time. She’s also selling a five-bedroom, three-bathroom property at 151 Durham Drive, in Havelock North, which is inviting interest from $3.3m.
Former Labour minister Stuart Nash, whose firm Nash Kelly Global helps high net worth foreigners navigate the “golden visa” rules, agreed that there would be limited overseas interest in Hawke’s Bay.
He had been working with one overseas buyer who was interested in moving to the region because he had fallen in love with it while on holiday 20 years earlier. However, most of his clients were eyeing up Queenstown-Lakes and Auckland.
Nash said overseas buyers could still purchase properties over 5ha or those on sensitive land if they gained approval from the Overseas Investment Office.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in the Hawke’s Bay
