- Whakahau/Slipper Island, a 217ha Coromandel property, is for sale for more than $20m.
- The estate includes resort accommodation, a working farm, beaches, and its own barge and boat.
- Buyers include farmers, conservationists, tourism operators, and unnamed film, music, and technology figures.
Big-name film stars and musicians have asked about buying Whakahau/Slipper Island, but much of the interest in the $20 million-plus slice of paradise is local.
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Whakahau/Slipper Island is one of a handful of privately owned islands in New Zealand that have come up for sale in the last five years, although OneRoof also has islands for sale in Fiji.
Barfoot & Thompson’s Diana Cussen and Steve Maserow are selling the 217ha property that lies 3km off the Coromandel coastline.
Cussen has deep family ties to the island and still has a house there from when part of the island was subdivided.
The estate up for grabs at 190 Pacific Ocean covers the bulk of the island and is one of 10 titles there. Another 4872sqm section at 193 Pacific Ocean on the island is also for sale and has an RV of $1m.
190 Pacific Ocean comes with resort accommodation and a working farm, as well as sandy beaches. Also included in the chattels is the island’s purpose-built barge and boat.
Cussen told OneRoof that city cares were quickly forgotten on arrival: “All you need is your food and your best bikini to come and enjoy the beautiful clear waters,” she said.
Owning an island was the ultimate form of freedom, and this island was one of the best places in the “whole wide world”, she said.
A 217ha estate at Whakahau/Slipper Island, off the Coromandel coast, is looking for a buyer with $20m-plus to spend. Photo / Supplied
The property covers much of the island. Buyers would need a boat or could travel by plane, with the island boasting an airstrip. Photo / Supplied
Included in the sale of 190 Pacific Ocean are resort accommodation units and a working farm. Photo / Supplied
Also up for grabs on the island at a much lower price point is a 4872sqm section at 193 Pacific Ocean. Photo / Supplied
A range of buyers had made enquiries about the property since it hit the market in March, and with such strong interest, she advised anyone keen to contact the agents as soon as possible.
“Who buys an island? We’ve had people who just want to buy it for themselves. Retired farmers love it because you can go fishing and then you can do a bit of farming and have guests over,” Cussen said.
“There’s strong interest from the conservationists who just want to plant the island up and have it as a sanctuary and eco-tourism.
“We’ve had interest from, especially Australians, the farmers that run farms and also have tourism businesses as well.”
And international interest has also been strong: “Oh, people in the film industry and in the music industry.”
She can’t say who, but says the names are recognisable. They are “very nice people”, she added.
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There has also been interest from people who have done well in the tech industry and have stayed on the island in the past.
Cussen said her family took over the island in the 1970s before selling it about 10 years ago. “Back in the day we used to have all the school camps there and at the end of the year and the beginning of the year we’d be booked out completely with school camps so there’s a lot of people out there that have had first-hand experience of being at the island.”
For those that can’t afford the island, the section at 193 Pacific Ocean is a great alternative: “If they want to own an island but they don’t have that much cash, they can buy a section and build their dream home there and live off the grid.”
Cussen said the island has the blue water current that comes from the Kermadec Islands, around the Great Mercs and through the Aldermen Islands.
The water is so pristine people go “wow”, she said, adding that there is pink sand at Home Bay.
Half the island was recently made a marine high protection area, and there had been a noticeable increase in fish life in less than a year, she said.
Orcas and dolphins regularly come calling, and life is idyllic, hence the strong interest. Plus the island is only a 15-minute boat ride from Tairua, and a 20 or 30-minute helicopter flight from Auckland, Tauranga or Hamilton (there’s an airstrip on the island as well).
Still looking for a wealthy buyer is Pakatua Island, in the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent John Greenwood says a lot of people interested in owning an island are “escapists” who do not mind their own company. Photo / Fiona Goodall
New Zealand has other private islands for sale occasionally, including the perennial Hauraki Gulf Pakatua Island.
This island, from the 1960s-1980s where actor Russell Crowe called bingo in his younger years, has been for sale for many years and currently has a price tag of $65m-plus, said listing agent John Greenwood, of Bayleys.
Greenwood has sold several private islands in New Zealand and said a recent sale of one in the Far North, Motuekaiti, went to the Crown for $3m on behalf of the local iwi.
“I was dealing with Te Arawiti, that is the office of the Maori Crown Relations, on behalf of the local iwi Ngati Ruamahau.”
Greenwood said the island would transition to the iwi when the wider Nga Puhi Treaty claim was settled.
When Motuekaiti was being listed, he also received interest from individuals who wanted to own their own island.
Greenwood said a certain status was associated with owning an island, but sometimes when people looked closer, the lack of creature comforts, like nearby coffee shops, put them off.
Modes of transport were also needed to get to them, such as boats and helicopters.
Another island, Motuketekete in the Hauraki Gulf – which also had former deputy prime minister Paula Bennett as one of the agents – sold early last year “to a chap who was a new migrant to New Zealand”, Greenwood said.
While overseas buyers cannot buy islands without going through the Overseas Investment Office process, this buyer had both an Australian and a Canadian passport and had become a New Zealand resident, which meant he was able to purchase.
Bayleys recently sold Motuketekete Island, in Kawau Bay, to a newly arrived immigrant. Photo / Supplied
Wavi Island is one of several Fiji islands for sale on OneRoof. Photo / Supplied
Greenwood said that while he doesn’t know that particular buyer’s motivation, a lot of people interested in owning an island are “escapists” who do not mind their own company.
“You know, they do not need a perfect espresso coffee, or they’ll make it themselves. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea,” he said, adding that most tended to be male.
Greenwood said he receives half a dozen calls regarding Pakatua Island every year and that over the last 25 years he has tabled about seven offers but all have been turned down by owner and businessman John Ramsey, who bought the island in the 1990s.
The most likely buyer for Pakatua would be an international resort hotel operator, Greenwood said, adding that while the island had infrastructure already, it would still cost a substantial amount outside the purchase price to bring it up to standard.
The OIO process meant international buyers had to show they were adding value to New Zealand in some form: “It’s adding value in whatever capacity, so that’s employment, that’s bringing people to New Zealand, spending money, all sorts of stuff.”
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Chester Rendell, who sells in the South Pacific, has two Fijian islands on the market.
One, Toberua Island Resort, is for sale for US$6,5m (nearly NZ$11m) plus VAT, if any, and is under contract.
The other is Wavi Island, which has a partly developed resort and an independent valuation of US$20m (over NZ$33m).
Rendell said that while a lot of people harboured hopes of owning an island, the reality is there are costs involved, and the price tags alone were out of reach for “mum and dad” dreamers.
“They’re invariably high-net-worth individuals or companies involved in tourism, and they can pick up these types of properties and add them into their reservation systems and their overheads relatively easily.”
The deals took time, with a lot of due diligence needed, and while tech billionaires and others from America did inquire, upping sticks and coming to the bottom half of the world did not always match the dream.
“I mean, I’ve had some pretty interesting people who’ve come and looked at these islands, who are well known people in sports fields, for example, and they come down and they look at it and they love it and they go back and think about it and then they go, ‘well ...’. They lead busy lives and they just don’t know if they could justify doing it sort of thing.”
Fiji is closer for high-net-worth New Zealanders and Australians, and if an island resort was under management it could be attractive as a place to holiday and to entertain.
“They may be at the end of their business career. They might have sold off their company , and so they’re sitting on lots of cash, and they’re just looking for nice things to do.
“A lot of them go in there and help the communities and help the local village, re-roofing houses and putting in power and all that kind of stuff. The very generous people.”
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