Deep-pocketed overseas buyers and cashed-up locals trading within the market are driving demand for some of Auckland’s most expensive homes, according to North Shore luxury agents.
Bayleys agent Victoria Bidwell said she was seeing waterfront buyers from Australia, the United States and Asia looking to relocate their families to New Zealand, while Harcourts North Shore manager Caleb Paterson said most of his recent offshore interest had come from wealthy Americans hunting for homes in the $10 million to $20m-plus bracket.
The demand is translating into sales. OneRoof data shows 18 North Shore homes have sold for $5m or more so far this year, putting the market on track to surpass last year’s 27 settled North Shore sales above that threshold.
Two major deals in recent months underline the resilience of the prestige market in the Shore’s sought-after beach suburbs.
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A waterfront property on Holiday Road in Milford changed hands for $11m, almost $3m above its RV, while a newly built home just metres from Takapuna Beach on Brett Avenue sold for about $10m.
Precision Real Estate agent Andrew Dorreen told OneRoof the Lawrence Sumich-designed Holiday Road property, built in the 1990s, had recently undergone a full reclad and extensive interior renovation.
The five-bedroom home sits on a prime 1097sqm waterfront site and was on and off the market throughout 2023 and 2024 before being withdrawn. At the time, it was pitched as a “renovate or redevelop” opportunity, with price expectations of $7m-$7.5m.
“You may choose to live in the home and enjoy it as is, undertake a substantial renovation or re-clad or remove the house and create your own dream home on this prime beachfront site,” earlier ads for the property read.
The $11m deal is the highest settled sale recorded so far this year, but Dorreen has already brokered two sales expected to eclipse that figure. OneRoof reported last month that he sold a fully renovated Hamptons-style waterfront home on Minnehaha Avenue in Takapuna for an undisclosed sum.
Agent Andrew Dorreen will likely claim North Shore’s biggest sale this year with a Hamptons-style mansion on Minnehaha Avenue, in Takapuna. Photo / Supplied
Dorreen also sold a Takapuna lakefront compound on Lake View Road for an undisclosed amount this year. Photo / Supplied Photo / Supplied
When that property launched to market last year, it carried a $30m asking price. Dorreen told OneRoof last month it was “one of the highest residential sales ever achieved on Auckland’s North Shore”. The Shore’s sale-price record remains the $28.888m paid for a waterfront home on O'Neills Avenue in 2017.
Dorreen has also sold a seven-bedroom, resort-style estate on Lake View Road in July. Designed by Daniel Marshall, the property overlooks Lake Pupuke from nearly 3200sqm of land and carries an RV of more than $16m.
Premium Real Estate agent Robert Milne, who marketed the Brett Avenue property, also declined to comment on his sale.
The four-bedroom home replaced a dated 1980s mansion on a section of more than 1000sqm. It features sea views, a swimming pool, outdoor fireplace, rooftop terrace, study and double garage, along with sustainability features such as natural ventilation, energy-saving systems, solar-conscious design and provision for a future lift.
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When the property was listed in July, Milne told OneRoof: “Substantial brand new homes of this scale are incredibly rare and increasingly difficult to replicate given the limited supply of land available in this highly desirable location.”
He said buyers were increasingly drawn to turnkey homes in waterfront suburbs, sparing them years of searching for a suitable site and navigating the build process.
Property records show the owner purchased the ageing 1990s home in 2022 for $7m before engaging consultants to redevelop the site. The rebuild took just 10 months to complete and was finished in February. The home was then brought to market without the owner ever moving in.
According to Bayleys agent Victoria Bidwell, who specialises in the stretch from Takapuna to Devonport, waterfront property operates in its own ecosystem.
She currently has three homes on the market seeking $7m to $7.5m: a four-bedroom Mediterranean-style property at 9 Holiday Road, Milford; a five-bedroom residence at 8 St Leonards Road, Hauraki; and an architect-designed four-bedroom home at 67 Rothesay Bay Road.
A new-build house on Brett Avenue, in Takapuna, is understood to have sold for around $10m. Photo / Supplied
Despite what she described as a “challenging sideways” market, Bidwell said she currently has three waterfront properties under offer this month, including two at the $5m mark. The buyers are from Australia, the United States and Asia.
“They’re new New Zealanders, people coming in here to live with their families,” Bidwell said.
Because many waterfront properties are classified as sensitive land, those buyers cannot purchase through this year’s revised Active Investor Plus framework and instead must pursue immigration pathways that allow them to secure approval from the Overseas Investment Office.
Bidwell said determining whether a waterfront property qualifies as sensitive land can be complicated, prompting her to recommend that buyers and sellers engage specialist companies approved by Land Information New Zealand to assess the legal status of a title.
She noted that OIO application costs and legal fees can add tens of thousands of dollars to the purchase price. However, favourable exchange rates mean many offshore buyers still view New Zealand waterfront property as good value.
Local buyers, meanwhile, are largely sitting on the sidelines pending the election, while sellers are focused on getting deals done rather than trying to time the market, she said.
“For a lot of those people, it is how much it's going to cost them to buy the next one. Even though they're trading down and getting some money out, they're still going to buy a lot better, buying and selling in the same market,” Bidwell said.
A four-bedroom beachfront home at 9 Holiday Road, Milford, is seeking around $7m to $7.5m. Photo / Supplied
8 St Leonards Road, in Hauraki, is up for grabs. It sits on a 3598sqm section in a gated estate. Photo / Supplied
67 Rothesay Bay Road, in East Coast Bays, is on the beach. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts North Shore manager Caleb Paterson, whose territory includes luxury waterfront and lifestyle properties, said he expected another six months to pass before the high-end coastal market gains real momentum. That would be more than a year after the Government reopened the door to foreign buyers of homes worth more than $5m through the Active Investor Plus framework.
Most of the interest he has seen has come from American buyers, many of whom are still working through cross-border tax obligations. He said New Zealand authorities also needed to provide greater clarity around how sensitive land rules interact with foreign investment settings.
“If they can, my gut feeling on the luxury market is that in quarter two of next year we’ll really start to see the rubber hit the road,” Paterson said.
He said he was currently acting as a buyer’s agent for six American clients, but none had committed to a purchase while they worked through their tax positions in both countries.
“There are a lot of moving parts in that space. They have found the properties that they want, predominantly in the $10m to $15m mark, a couple with $20m-plus.
“We’re dealing with billionaires, multi-millionaires with all of this experience, and they’re wanting to bring that to the New Zealand economy and share that information. They’re not just passive holidaymakers. I’ve got someone in an AI space who’s one of the top in the world wanting to get a big tract in Auckland,” he said.
“We need this ... so that we see this flow through the rest of the economy.
“A luxury homeowner realistically has been waiting three years for this. We waited for the government to come in, and then they didn’t organise it properly. I’m dealing with a lot of homeowners now who are just going to get on with things.”
Paterson said his analysis showed more than 380 high-end properties listed on the open market over the past three years had failed to sell and were ultimately withdrawn.
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