- Ultra-luxury sales have accelerated, led by Andersons Cove’s reported $40m-plus deal.
- OneRoof identified 22 sales above $10m, while Auckland dominated publicly advertised prestige listings.
- Many high-end transactions remain private, reflecting wealthy buyers’ desire for discretion and rigorous due diligence.
They account for less than 0.1% of the overall housing market in New Zealand, but ultra-high-end homes have been selling at a fair clip this year, with some mansions snapped up for eye-watering sums within weeks of hitting the market.
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The biggest deal so far this year is the sale of Andersons Cove by Bayleys agents Duncan Ross and Sarah Dyer. The mystery buyer pounced on the waterfront estate at Langs Beach within three weeks of the listing going live, and while the sale price has not yet been made public, OneRoof understands it is well above $40 million – and possibly exceeds the $45.5m record price set by the Queenstown estate Chantecler in 2023.
The search price on Andersons Cove was $50m. So too was the search price for the Auckland mansion listed by rich-lister property developers Simon and Paula Herbert last year.
That property was withdrawn from the market in April, and it isn’t clear if the mansion has sold, with Wall Real Estate agent Graham Wall telling OneRoof at the time he could not confirm or deny the sale. “I cannot say a single word about it,” he said.
OneRoof has identified 22 homes that sold for more than $10m this year. Of the 17 listed on OneRoof, eight were listed this year and seven secured buyers within two months. Most sold above RV, and around half exceeded their search price.
The analysis found 86 residential listings with search prices above $10m published on OneRoof between January 1 and August 31. Of those, 49 remain active; 24 have been withdrawn; and 13 have been sold.
Auckland dominates with 63 listings, followed by Queenstown Lakes (13) and Mount Maunganui (4). At a suburb level, Remuera remains mansion central, accounting for 14 new $10m-plus listings this year. Herne Bay followed with nine, St Heliers seven, and Takapuna and Ōrākei five each.
But we should take these figures with a pinch of salt. These are only the $10m-plus listings that New Zealand buyers could see on OneRoof. Multiple agencies are marketing scores of high-end listings on the quiet. NZ Sotheby’s has lots of prestige listings that only appear on its international site. And quiet / pocket listings at this end of the market are nothing new, and, as you can see, more than a few big sales this year have taken place off-market.
OneRoof understands that there is a handful of high-end off-market deals that have been inked in Auckland and Queenstown-Lakes but have not yet appeared in the stats. It is believed prices on these top deals exceed $30m.
The 48ha estate at Andersons Cove, in Northland, was snapped up by an expat this year for reportedly over $40m. Photo / Supplied
The luxury Herne Bay mansion listed by wealthy couple Paula and Simon Herbert late last year was withdrawn from market in April. It was looking for a $50m-plus buyer. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Patrick McAteer says discretion is a facet of the prestige market, noting that both sellers and purchasers like to keep a low profile.
Of the 11 properties that McAteer and his partner, Suzanne Browne, are selling, five are available only through off-market channels, while two are advertised exclusively on portals outside of New Zealand, including the six-bedroom Herne Bay mansion at 91 and 95 Sarsfield Street, owned by Huka Lodge designer Virginia Fisher.
McAteer says the clients he deals with – both local and international – are discerning and aren’t throwing around stupid money to buy real estate in New Zealand.
“A lot of these high-net-worth [people] have made their money by making informed decisions,” he says.
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“They’re incredibly diligent; they’ll do due diligence for insurance purposes. The larger the house, the bigger the land, the more due diligence is required from builders, engineers, valuers. We’ve experienced three valuations and three building reports on one property.”
One of the more substantial New Zealand homes looking for an international buyer is 45 View Road, in Auckland’s Campbells Bay.
The luxurious Hamptons-style clifftop mansion is 700sqm in size, has five bedrooms and sits on a 3400sqm section. Listed with NZ Sotheby’s agent Malcolm Low, the property has an asking price of US$18,974,778 (NZ$32.7m).
Known as Hampton on View, the property is also listed on luxury holiday websites for $15,000 a night. As well as the five bedrooms (three with ensuites), the home has four living rooms, some with bar facilities, a chef’s kitchen with a butler’s pantry, an office and 60m of clifftop lawns and gardens.
NZ Sotheby’s agents Patrick McAteer and Suzanne Browne are quietly selling the Herne Bay mansion at 91 and 95 Sarsfield Street owned by Huka Lodge designer Virginia Fisher. Photo / Supplied
McAteer, with Browne, says his clients are discerning: “A lot of these high-net-worth [people] have made their money by making informed decisions.” Photo / Fiona Goodall
A Hamptons-style mansion at 45 View Road, in Auckland’s Campbells Bay, is for sale for just under US$19m. Photo / Supplied
Remuera, the epicentre of New Zealand’s mansion market, has seen a string of high-value deals. Bayleys agent Gary Wallace and his team, comprising wife Vicki and sons Sam and Andrew, have notched up two $10m-plus sales in the suburb, where the sale price has appeared in the public records.
These include a luxury home on Victoria Avenue, which was snapped up by a Hong Kong family for $10.5m within a month of hitting the market, and a mansion on Martin Avenue, which was listed in March and sold in June for $10m.
Wallace said there had been a noticeable lift in overseas interest in New Zealand’s prestige homes, which he put down to the March change to the AIP visa scheme, allowing holders the right to buy a $5m-plus property.
Some high-profile Remuera listings have quietly disappeared from public view in the last six months, their fate unknown.
One such listing is 532 Remuera Road, which hit the market at the start of 2024 with a price tag of $32m but was withdrawn at the end of last month. Listing agent Terry King, of The Kings of Remuera, declined to say whether or not the five-bedroom 900sqm Roy Binney-designed house had sold.
Entrepreneur Diane Foreman and broadcaster Paul Henry are resting their luxury mansion on Arney Crescent. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Gary Wallace and his team sold a four-bedroom home on Victoria Avenue, in Auckland’s Remuera, to a Hong Kong family for $10.5m. Photo / Supplied
One agent who can talk is Barfoot & Thompson’s Jamie Doole, who has closed several big deals in the suburb this year, including the sale of developer Richard Kroon’s Victoria Avenue mansion in June for an undisclosed price.
Doole, more famously, was handling the sale of the Arney Crescent mansion owned by broadcaster-turned-ACT-candidate Paul Henry and his rich-lister wife, entrepreneur Diane Foreman.
The couple spent $9.75m on a French-style home in the Remuera late last year, but have yet to find a suitable buyer for Arney Crescent. Doole says Henry and Foreman have decided to pause their campaign while they work out what to do with the house. “It hasn’t sold, and so we’re having a rest,” Doole told OneRoof in July. “They have yet to decide if they will put it back on the market.”
Graham Wall is remaining mum about the disappearance of some of his Remuera listings, including a classic mansion on Remuera Road and a more modern trophy home on Arney Road.
A five-bedroom mansion on Remuera Road, which had an asking price of $32m, has been withdrawn from market. Photo / Supplied
Also in the $20m-plus club is Barochan, the impeccably renovated 1000sqm Arts and Crafts mansion on Remuera Road. The property has been on and off the market since early 2022, most recently under the stewardship of Bayleys agents Steve and Nila Koerber.
Koerber says the owner is “taking it out of hibernation” and “making it more visible” in the spring. “We have had a few expressions of interest. There are people who like the house. We’re just waiting for the right person.”
He notes that, unlike some other mansions on the market, Barochan needs no work. “People who buy some of these other houses will discover they have to invest millions and millions of dollars; they’re up for major expenses for maintenance or a renovation.”
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