- A historic Auckland villa sold for $12.85m, over $4m above its pre-renovation valuation.
- The four-bedroom Herne Bay home attracted strong interest, with a local buyer securing the property.
- Agents Patrick McAteer and Suzanne Browne noted demand for turnkey-ready homes with top-end features.
A historic Auckland villa that underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation was snapped up within weeks of hitting the market.
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The impressive four-bedroom, four-bathroom home on one of Herne Bay’s most coveted streets attracted strong interest from buyers and fetched $12.85m – over $4m above its pre-renovation valuation.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agents Patrick McAteer and Suzanne Browne, who listed the house in February, said the owners had spent millions on the renovation, and it had paid off.
The four-bedroom house on Galatea Terrace had a pre-renovation valuation of over $8m. Photo / Supplied
Buyers with big budgets want everything to be top of the range including the kitchen appliances. Photo / Supplied
The home had undergone a multimillion-dollar renovation. Photo / Supplied
The modern games room was a highlight. Photo / Supplied
Buyers also responded to the wine cellar. Photo / Supplied
Although the property attracted strong interest from overseas, the successful buyer was a local.
“It was surprising how many buyers out there with budgets north of that area,” Browne told OneRoof.
She said the house ticked all the boxes from the good indoor/outdoor flow, breathtaking upper-harbour views and incredible renovation, which had cost millions of dollars.
Property records show the property last changed hands in 2009, for $2.5m. The owners’ improvements included a rare magnesium mineral swimming pool, a spa and a new kitchen. Other highlights were the dedicated media and games room and a beautifully appointed wine cellar.
Browne said turnkey-ready homes were becoming almost a must for buyers with bigger budgets.
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“If a home has been renovated several years ago, it’s not seen as turnkey now. People are going, ‘The kitchen is starting to date, the bathroom is going to need doing’. Buyers are becoming very, very particular.”
Top-end appliances were also non-negotiable, she said.
And it’s these turnkey-ready, “perfect” homes that seem to be in demand.
The agents sold a brand-new four-bedroom, three-bathroom home on Garnet Road, in Westmere, to a Sydney couple for $6.125m just hours after it passed in at auction.
Browne said it was an attractive proposition with Gaggenau appliances, a cool media room and unbelievable views. The property also had private water access, a boat shed and a swimming pool.
“It sits along the cliff face along Rawene [Avenue] so you get that aspect, but it attracted a lot of interest because they are very architecturally prominent buildings in Garnet Road.”
A striking new build on Garnet Road, in Auckland’s Westmere, was scooped up by a Sydney couple for over $6m. Photo / Supplied
They also sold another house on Garnet Road to an overseas buyer for over $5m.
McAteer said they were getting a good mix of local and overseas interest in these higher-end homes, but they hadn’t noticed a sudden rush in interest from golden visa holders since the rules changed earlier this year.
“We just think consistency rather than a big bump in interest. So, we are just seeing the consistency that we are seeing right through 2025. It doesn’t feel like there’s this huge kind of groundswell.”
McAteer said the overseas buyers they were dealing with tended to be far less emotional about the purchase and instead did extensive due diligence.
“There’s a lot less emotion involved in it. Their shopping list is privacy, security, accessibility to everything from the airport through to downtown Auckland, and views where possible. But they are very clear on what they want, and they are largely unemotional when it comes to the purchase.”
And despite there being a perception that overseas buyers have oodles of money to spend, Browne said they could actually be “quite tough on price”.
“The local and national markets are actually more competitive than the internationals at times. Not all the time, but at times.”
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