Wellington’s luxury housing market is stirring back to life, with agents expecting post-election confidence to unlock big-money deals and propel one landmark Khandallah property into record-breaking territory.
An architecturally transformed mansion at 26 Jubilee Road, in Khandallah, is seeking buyer enquiries over $5.75 million and could become one of the capital’s most expensive home sales in years if it meets expectations.
The six-bedroom property enters the market at a time when Wellington has endured the sharpest housing downturn in the country. House values have fallen 32% from their peak and sales volumes are down 14% year-on-year, amid cost-of-living pressures and the loss of thousands of public sector jobs.
Yet agents say the city’s top end is telling a different story.
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Tommy’s agent Ramon Kane told OneRoof Wellington’s luxury market remained remarkably resilient because truly exceptional homes were so scarce.
“Ultimately, I believe Wellington's luxury market is about quality over quantity. There may be fewer buyers at this level, but those who are actively looking know what they want, and when they find it, they're prepared to act."
The benchmark for Wellington’s residential market remains $6m, a mark reached or exceeded by just four homes. Beyond those rare outliers, most of the capital’s biggest sales have clustered in the $3m range.
The six-bedroom home on Jubilee Road, in Khandallah, was built in 1911 and designed by architect Simon Novak in 2008. Photo / Supplied
It won the 2008 NZIA Wellington Architecture Award. Photo / Supplied
The property sits on a 2512sqm section and boasts a tennis court and outdoor pool. Photo / Supplied
Kane said luxury buyers were typically motivated by lifestyle rather than market cycles.
“Buyers at this level are often in a different financial position from those in the broader market. As a result, they're generally less influenced by interest rates, economic uncertainty or short-term market fluctuations.”
Instead, buyers were focused on finding a dream property that offered privacy, location, architectural pedigree and features that simply could not be replicated.
Kane holds Wellington's top settled sale price so far this year, $4.3m for an apartment in Clyde Quay Wharf. He expects to obliterate that record once 26 Jubilee Road is sold.
Known as Winola and marketed as one of Wellington’s finest homes, the property was built in 1911 for the owner of the James Smith department store. After falling into disrepair, it was rescued from possible demolition when its previous owners purchased it in 2002 and commissioned architect Simon Novak, of Novak Middleton, to reinvent it as the contemporary showpiece it is today.
Waiting for buyers to commit
Bayleys agent Ben Atwill, whose $5.5m sale of a smart home on Maida Vale Road, in Roseneath, was 2025's highest. said buyer interest remained healthy, but many purchasers had been reluctant to commit before the election.
“The general feel is there is hesitation in the market, and although good activity is there, that activity is not yielding sales as much as we would like.”
Atwill said election uncertainty had historically weighed on activity, and he expected confidence to improve now voters had had their say.
“Traditionally there is always buyer hesitation pre-election, and I feel like that's quite well documented, and I'm confident that's what we are sort of going through now. Hopefully that will change regardless of who gets in; hopefully a bit of confidence and a bit of sure footing will allow the market to open up again…”
A renovated home at 3 Bay View Road, in Oriental Parade, with expansive harbour views is inviting buyer enquiry over $3.95m . Photo / Supplied
A private retreat on Wilton Bush Road, in Wilton, is attracting overseas interest. Photo / Supplied
While Wellington has relatively few properties above the $5m threshold sought by Active Investor Plus migrants, Atwill said international interest remained a factor at the very top end.
In the past six months alone, he has sold two premium homes to overseas buyers after they secured Overseas Investment Office approval. One purchaser worked in the film industry, the other in healthcare.
He said offshore buyers had also shown interest in Wilton House, the sprawling seven-bedroom estate at 1 Wilton Bush Road, and a renovated waterfront residence at 3 Bay View Terrace, in Oriental Bay. Both properties are seeking buyer enquiries over $3.95m.
Chasing Wellington’s next record
Several other trophy homes are also vying to rewrite Wellington’s record books.
In Khandallah, New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agents Wayne Kemp and Marina Scoble are marketing Middle Harbour, a six-bedroom, five-bathroom estate at 66 Onslow Road. The property, which has never before been offered for sale, carries an RV of $4.94m, although the agents argue its market value is significantly higher (the search price on OneRoof was above $9m).
Elsewhere, fellow Sotheby’s agents Steve Rodwell, Elise Boulieris and Mitch Sedgwick are marketing a dramatically reimagined Karaka Bay home originally designed by Sir Ian Athfield in the late 1960s.
Rodwell told OneRoof last month the property was one of Wellington’s most recognisable homes.
Sir Ian Athfield's dramatic design at 3 Maramanui Way, in Karaka Bays, Wellington, has been luxuriously reworked. Photo / Supplied
The striking white mansion for sale at 66 Onslow Road, in Khandallah, is looking for a buyer with more than $9m to spend. Photo / Supplied
34 Lookout Road was designed by architectural firm Novak + Middleton and boasts views of Wellington and the harbour. Photo / Supplied
“It’s an Athfield with a modern twist. I’ve driven past that place a million times before I listed it. When you’re down at the wharf on Karaka Bay Road looking up to the top it’s certainly something that catches the eye – it’s stunning,” he said.
The agency is also selling an eye-catching Roseneath residence at 34 Lookout Road, described as a modern castle in the clouds. Perched atop Mt Victoria, the four-bedroom home overlooks Wellington Harbour and the CBD and is seeking offers above $5.495m.
‘Extremely good value’
Lowe & Co managing director Craig Lowe believes Wellington’s sluggish sales volumes have been building for years, with the Iran war, higher oil prices and the general election all contributing to buyer caution in 2026.
Around 2800 homes changed hands across Wellington in the past 12 months, well below the long-term norm of approximately 4000 sales, he said.
First-home buyers now account for about 40% of purchasers, while many existing homeowners looking to upgrade remain on the sidelines.
The exception, Lowe said, was genuinely standout property.
“If you’ve got something absolutely amazing, it’s not like it’s not going to sell. It’s just that my experience is that most of the second home or third or fourth or fifth home buyers and sellers are on the sidelines and that’s a lot of turnover.”
He said Wellington’s luxury market was fundamentally different from Auckland’s or Queenstown’s, where multi-million-dollar sales were more common.
Even so, the city’s price correction had created compelling value.
“I can’t think of a time in Wellington really in my career when it was better value than it is today. And that’s when you look at every way of valuing it.”
While Lowe expects sales activity to increase in 2027, he is not predicting a rapid return to boom conditions.
“I would be so surprised if volumes didn’t pick up next year, but I’m not suggesting that the market is going to be good with capital gains or anything silly like that. I think we are years away from that if I’m honest, because we’ve got so much going on right now.”
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