- Michael Hapgood sold his Herne Bay home after six months on the market.
- The house, with a $7.5m RV, was previously owned by the Sultan of Brunei.
- The Hapgoods renovated the property extensively before listing it.
The wealthy Kiwi co-founder of an Australian footwear giant has found a buyer for his multimillion-dollar pad in Auckland’s Herne Bay.
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Accent Group non-executive director Michael Hapgood and his wife, Catherine, listed their five-bedroom Stack Street property at the end of last year after finding a more suitable home nearby.
Michael Hapgood has been instrumental in the expansion of Accent Group, whose stores include Hype, Platypus and The Athlete’s Foot, and is known for his love of classic cars.
Bayleys listing agent Nick Gilbert told OneRoof that the Hapgoods’ buyers were local but declined to reveal the sale price.
The multimillion-dollar Stack Street property boasts harbour views. Photo / Supplied
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, of Brunei, front, arrives in Auckland for the 1999 APEC conference. The sultan bought 11 Stack Street and 10 other Herne Bay homes for his royal retinue. Photo / Getty Images
He said it had taken six months to get a deal over the line, partly because an earlier buyer had not gone through with the purchase. “We went through a tender process, and we had a buyer at the end of that, but they didn’t transact. Then Christmas came, so it slowed down.”
He said that the buyers moved quickly after viewing the property. “It ticked all their boxes.”
The house, which has an RV of $7.5m, has a royal connection. It was one of 11 Herne Bay properties bought by the Sultan of Brunei for his royal entourage in the mid-1990s.
The Hapgoods themselves bought Stack Street for $6.8m from rich-lister businessman Gary Lane, who made front-page news in 2005 when he snapped up the Sultan’s Auckland property portfolio.
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The Stack Street property was the third multimillion-dollar home they listed for sale in 2025. In Australia, the Herald Sun newspaper reported that the couple put their luxury Melbourne apartment on the market, and in October, the couple sold their waterfront home in Auckland’s Stanley Point for $9m.
Gilbert told OneRoof last year that the Hapgoods had carried out a top-to-bottom renovation of the Stack Street residence before listing it for sale. “Gary Lane had different people living in it. It was sort of a transient home, is my understanding,” Gilbert told OneRoof.
“Basically, there’s been no surface in the interior that hasn’t been changed. They added new structural elements to remove some ugly beams and poles in the middle of the downstairs living area. They improved the flow, added mod cons [including] air conditioning in all bedrooms.”
The Hapgoods put the Stack Street property on the market after finding another home nearby. Photo / Supplied
The couple sold their Stanley Point home last year for $9m. Photo / Supplied
Gilbert has a significantly more expensive mansion for sale at 15 Hamilton Road, in Herne Bay.
The vendor is developer Simon Dunlop, who transformed the site from a previously run-down villa into a modern five-bedroom, six-bathroom home, packed with high-end fittings and furnishings. He is aiming to set a new benchmark price for non-waterfront properties in the wealthy suburb.
Gilbert told OneRoof that there were “lots of buyers” looking at high-end homes in Herne Bay, but they weren’t in a rush. “It’s a very small part of the market. So, they’re very discerning and make decisions based on many factors, not just the house itself. They look at location, view, outlook, all that kind of stuff. There’s definitely a number of buyers in that segment. There’s probably more opportunities [for them] at the moment than there has been for some time, with a lot of property coming to market in that sort of $15m to $20m bracket,” he said.
Developer Simon Dunlop is selling his five-bedroom new-build villa at 15 Hamilton Road, in Auckland’s Herne Bay. Photo / Supplied
“I think ultimately the market is pretty stable. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, I wouldn’t say it’s good. It’s pretty consistent with what it’s been.”
Gilbert said he was receiving a small number of enquiries from overseas buyers, but Herne Bay was just one of the suburbs they were considering. “A lot of them don’t know what they want. So, they’ll be looking in Auckland, north of Auckland, they’ll be looking in Queenstown. They spend a lot of time looking around.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Herne Bay
