- Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen showcases a $10m St Heliers home with luxury features.
- The property includes a swimming pool, five-car garage, gym, and advanced home automation system.
- Recent changes to foreign buyer rules have led to increased interest in high-end Auckland homes.
I don’t have $10 million to spend, but I’m pretending my bank account is full as I tour some of Auckland’s most expensive homes with Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen.
Start your property search
Joining me on my fantasy real estate shopping spree is the New Zealand Herald’s Society Insider columnist Ricardo Simich, who is no stranger to the lives of the rich and famous.
We’re at 21 Benbow Street, in St Heliers, a five-bedroom architectural wonder that Neshausen brought to market at the start of April.
The house was designed by Swann Railley Architects and last sold in 2024 for just under $9m, so expectations are high.
The house boasts a design by Swann Railley Architects. Photo / Supplied
The city and sea views are just what international buyers are looking for, says Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen. Photo / Supplied
The swimming pool screams luxury, but so do other fittings and finishes in the trophy home. Photo / Supplied
Neshausen says there are big differences between a $5m home and a $10m home. Size and location are important, but so too is the quality of the home (think the difference between a Coach handbag and a top-of-the-line bag from Louis Vuitton).
“This is the fifth time I’ve been in this home in the last two weeks, and every time I come here, I find something else I think is a ‘wow’ moment. It’s got a swimming pool, it’s got five-car garaging, it’s got a lift, it’s got a gym area, it’s got C4 home automation, so I can control everything from my mobile phone; and it’s got security, which, for my international buyers, is really important right now. It is the closest I’ve seen to the perfect home and easily justifies that $10m-plus price tag.”
Talking of international buyers, Neshausen says they’ll only consider the best streets in the best suburbs. That’s Benbow Street to a T. “It’s got international-class sea views. It’s a big vista – sea and city – and it’s north-facing."
Discover more:
- TV star's sad end: Gardening guru's Quarter Acre Paradise for sale
- Watch: 80s style icon up for grabs - inside Herne Bay’s $10m-plus penthouse
- Former NBR publisher got close to $14m for his waterfront mansion
Not to be snobby, but Neshausen says that there are features that only a high-end buyer would notice and care about. “They’re the things you pay for that aren’t obvious. They’re not listed in the property description. You have to be a connoisseur of homes to come here, see that, and go, ‘Wow, this is what quality and luxury look like’.”
As we tour the gym, Neshausen stops to point out one such feature. “I’ve got to show you this one, Ricardo, in case the urge takes you – a bar fridge. That’s just for your electrolytes.”
In the upstairs family room, there’s another bar – for the bubbles – and the closets are portals to Narnia for fashionistas. Simich jokes as he peers in one: “I have to say I love that there’s some Louis Vuitton and some Prada and some Dior.”
Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen is seeing more foreign buyers in the market. Photo / Fiona Goodall
We all now know who the target market is. “I can tell you, a number of people in my column live around here,” Simich jokes.
Sales of $10m-plus are a tiny, tiny part of the overall New Zealand housing market – we’re talking 0.001% – but trophy homes dominate the headlines and are a large part of the aspirational market.
The top end is also opening up to the world, with the Government loosening the foreign buyer rules. Since last month’s changes, a handful of high-end homes, including a Coatesville glamour home that appeared on the Real Housewives of New Zealand, have been snapped up by golden visa holders – and more big-ticket sales are expected as buyers from the US, Europe and Southeast Asia look to New Zealand as their safe space.
- 21 Benbow Street, St Heliers, Auckland, is for sale
