- Wellington's luxury housing market is seeing increased activity due to changes in the Active Investor Plus visa.
- High-end properties, like the $7.25 million home on Lookout Road, are attracting local and international interest.
- Agents expect more luxury listings, with longer marketing timeframes to accommodate potential overseas buyers.
Some of Wellington’s most expensive homes have appeared on the open market in recent weeks, with agents in the region expecting more luxury listings to follow.
Start your property search
The activity comes as changes to the Government’s Active Investor Plus visa — also known as the golden visa — open the door for overseas buyers to purchase residential property worth $5 million and above.
The revised visa settings are being factored into marketing campaigns at the upper end of the market, with longer marketing timeframes being used to accommodate potential offshore interest.
34 Lookout Road was designed by architectural firm Novak + Middleton and boasts views of Wellington and the harbour. Photo / Supplied
The property has multiple levels, connected by a lift. Photo / Supplied
One eye-catching property agents think might suit international buyers is 34 Lookout Road, in Roseneath. The four-bedroom house at the top of Mount Victoria is described in the listing as a modern castle in the clouds, towering over Wellington Harbour and the CBD.
The multi-level home has an RV of $7.25m, was designed by renowned architectural firm Novak + Middleton and comes with a lift, a full wine fridge, a wet bar, a theatre area, and a spa pool.
New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty agent Elise Boulieris told OneRoof that the home was one of the capital’s best.
The property was initially conceived as two separate apartments, but when it caught the eye of the vendors, the architects then spent a year reconfiguring the building as a single dwelling.
Discover more:
- Have wealthy Kiwis soured on the 1990s’ most expensive suburb?
- Former nunnery with 35 bedrooms and a link to the Bible for sale
- The 20 suburbs where buyers are paying pre-Covid prices
“It is now a lovely integrated family home. The lovely thing about it is it has a lift shaft that goes right through the middle, so you can completely bypass one or more floors.”
Boulieris said the upper end of the Wellington market was entering a new era with the Golden Visa changes. “We are getting local interest - notable Wellingtonians popping in and inquiring - but also we are expecting some overseas interest now that they can buy. That’s why we’re running a typically longer tender, unless sold prior, of six weeks to accommodate that.”
She added that the agency was set to list more high-end homes in the capital. “We actually have some others that are very, very opulent that you wouldn’t even know existed. It’s just timing for our vendors, but also as one comes on, it is the best time for others to come on because that’s when you’re seeing interest in a similar calibre of home.”
The striking white mansion for sale at 66 Onslow Road, in Khandallah, is looking for a buyer with more than $7m to spend. Photo / Supplied
The property comes with a climbing wall. Photo / Supplied
In Khandallah, about 15 minutes north of Mount Victoria, Boulieris's colleagues Wayne Kemp and Marina Scoble are selling a six-bedroom, five-bathroom mansion that has views all the way to Hutt Valley.
https://www.oneroof.co.nz/property/wellington/khandallah/66-onslow-road/wNkSX
The striking property at 66 Onslow Road, known locally as Middle Harbour, is on the market for sale for the first time since it was built. It has an RV of $4.94m, but the agents say that number doesn't reflect its true market value (the search price on OneRoof is above $7m).
Kemp said the iconic Mediterranean-feel home was a standout in the market: “When you're driving along the motorway, you look up and you see it there. It’s right in front of you, really.
“Wellington is sometimes referred to on a good day as the Mediterranean of the South Pacific, so it gives you that feel when you walk into it because it's got the big feature glazed atrium and that creates a lot of warmth when you walk in.”
While a lot of Wellington homes step down the hills over multiple levels, this one was different in that it had just two dominant living areas.
223 Huia Street, in Waikanae, is attracting the attention of expats. Photo / Supplied
The house was designed by renowned Wellington architect Jon Craig. Photo / Supplied
Scoble said the house had been well laid out with the living on one level, the bedrooms on another and a recreation level with an indoor pool, sauna and gym, plus there was a climbing wall. “There are not too many homes like this in Wellington at this level,” she said.
The agents agreed that more luxury homes were likely to appear, with Kemp saying the new visa rules would encourage vendors to come forward. “This will be a good test to see what the enquiry levels are like, especially with what's going on overseas now.”
In Waikanae, about an hour to the north of Wellington, Sotheby's is handling another high-end property, a four-bedroom lifestyle home at 223 Huia Street.
The house boasts views across the Kapiti Coast, from Mount Taranaki to the top of the South Island, and was designed by Wellington architect Jon Craig of Craig, Craig, Moller Architects.
While the $2.3m RV is below AIP visa threshold, agent Marcus D’Cunha said the property had attracted overseas interest, especially from expats.
The property sat at the upper end of the Waikanae market, he said, and was “very, very different”. It features a lot of glazing but was still private. “As you can imagine, the sunsets out there are pretty incredible.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Wellington
