Real estate agents behind some of New Zealand's biggest property deals have noticed a significant surge in buyer activity this year. So far, there have been four settled sales for $10 million-plus, including two for $28m that have jumped into the top 10 biggest Kiwi house sales of all time.
For much of the last decade and a half, the list of top sales has been fairly static, but in the last couple of years, there has been an explosion in luxury real estate purchases. Almost half of the country's 232 prime house sales - those for $10m or more - have occurred since 2022, when the rest of the housing market was coming off the boil.
OneRoof has examined the 10 largest deals - collectively worth more than $300 million - looking at who sold, who bought, and who brokered the deals. They are a snapshot of an exclusive market. Enjoy a peek at how the 1% live in New Zealand.
No.1 | Lower Shotover Road, Dalefield/Wakatipu Basin, Queenstown-Lakes
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Sale price: $45,500,000
Sale date: June 2023
The country’s top price is the $45.5m paid for Chantecler, the 19ha Queenstown estate that boasts impressive gardens and a grand French-style mansion. Hamish Walker, of Walker & Co, brokered the deal two years ago, with OneRoof first to report its significance. The sale was in two parts: the trophy home and gardens, built over 20 years by Aucklanders Mike and Maureen Henry, and a second piece of land zoned for subdivision. It sold to parties associated with Australian multi-millionaire Karl Jameson, a construction entrepreneur. Walker said that stretch of Lower Shotover Road is earmarked for housing and commercial development, making the land extremely valuable.
Chantecler was established by Aucklanders Mike and Maureen Henry and sold to parties associated with Australian multi-millionaire Karl Jameson. Photo / New Zealand Herald
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No.2 | Huriaro Place, Orakei, Auckland
Sale price: $38,500,000
Sale date: July 2013
The $38.5m sale of the home built by financier Mark Hotchin on Huriaro Place, was brokered by rich-lister agents Graham, Ollie and Andrew Wall, of Wall Real Estate. The imposing mansion, which now has a CV of more than $70m, was scooped up by Chinese businessman Deyi “Stone” Shi and for almost 10 years it was New Zealand's most expensive house. The 2600sqm property was designed by top architect Lawrence Sumich and overlooks Paritai Drive and the Waitemata Harbour. It has an indoor pool and underground parking for 12 cars. At the time it was completed, the build was reported to have cost $43 million and kept Aucklanders entranced for the nearly eight years it took to complete. This reporter got a tour of the grounds in 2022, noting: "The house is over-scaled, and OneRoof’s photographer has to stand right at the edge of the lawn to capture the full length of the 4m-high ground floor."
Stone Shi's mansion on Huriaro Place, in Auckland's Orakei, was New Zealand's most expensive house for 10 years. Photo / Fiona Goodall
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No.3 | Mahoenui Valley Road, Coatesville, Auckland
Sale price: $32,500,000
Sale date: June 2016
The mansion on Mahoenui Valley Road will forever be associated with its former resident – but never owner – Kim Dotcom. The sprawling 12-bedroom, three-swimming-pool home on over 22ha was built by Chrisco Christmas hamper multi-millionaire Richard Bradley in 2006. Dotcom rented the property reportedly for $1m a year, and claimed to have spent millions of his own money decorating the place in Versailles-style. It made headlines when police raided the place in 2012. After Dotcom and family vacated in 2015, it was bought by the ZURU Toys magnates, siblings Anna, Mat and Nick Mowbray, in 2016 in a secret deal brokered by Barfoot & Thompson agent Christina Tang. The Mowbrays later announced they were the buyers, and shared their plans for the mansion as a retreat for them and their staff. It has undergone substantial renovations, and now makes different headlines for its huge celebrity parties and fundraisers.
The former Dotcom mansion on Mahoenui Valley Road is owned by the rich-lister founders of ZURU Toys. Photo / Supplied
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No.4 | Remuera Road, Remuera, Auckland
Sale price: $29,000,000
Sale date: November 2021
The sale of the luxury home down a right-of-way on Remuera Road at the end of 2021 was again brokered by Wall and his son Ollie. The 979sqm Sumich-designed house sits on a nearly 4200sqm section that backs onto the grounds of a prestigious private school. OneRoof broke the news of the deal, and records show it had been in the hands of the same owner for just under 20 years. The property, which was owned by Waikato-based entrepreneurs, has since undergone a thorough renovation by its new owners. For those wanting a slice of luxury, the mansion next door is up for grabs.
The 2021 sale of this Remuera Road home was hush-hush at the time. Photo / Chris Tarpey
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No.5 | O'Neills Avenue, Takapuna, Auckland
Sale price: $28,888,000
Sale date: July 2017
The huge Tuscan-style house which curves around a courtyard on O’Neills Avenue, in Auckland's Takapuna, sold for just over $28m in 2017. The house, at 1100sqm, was bigger than most suburban sections and sat on more than 4400sqm of prime waterside land. It had originally been developed by Sky Network Television founder Craig Heatley, who sold it to businessman Mark Stewart — son of Dame Adrienne Stewart and industrialist and manufacturer Sir Robertson Stewart — in 2011 for $15m. The 2017 off-market sale to businessman and exporter Lichun Gao was brokered by Premium Real Estate’s Jim Mays and Jelena Freeman.
Outside the trophy on O'Neills Avenue, Takapuna, Auckland. The property covers 4400sqm of prime waterfront land. Photo / New Zealand Herald
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No.6 and No.7 | Rawene Avenue, Westmere, Auckland; Ronaki Road, Mission Bay, Auckland
Sale prices: Both $28,000,000
Sale dates: March 2025
The four-bedroom trophy home on tiny-but-expensive Rawene Avenue, overlooking the Upper Waitemata Harbour, hit the headlines earlier this year when OneRoof reported it had sold as part of $56m mansion swap with a trophy home on Ronaki Road, in Misson Bay. But it had made numerous headlines earlier due to the brief tenancy of movie star Jason Statham who stayed there in 2016 with his partner Rosie Huntington Whiteley while shooting the shark blockbuster The Meg in Auckland.
Jason Statham's former Auckland crib, on Rawene Avenue, in Auckland's Westmere, sold for $28m this year. Photo / Ted Baghurst
The striking concrete and glass house by architect David Ponting had been built by internet entrepreneur Sharon Hunter and her husband, former Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell, who combined three sections on the then-little-known street to build their waterfront mansion. They sold the house at the end of 2020 for $17.68m. But the owners jumped at the chance to acquire a Sumich-designed mansion owned by rich-lister Steve Owen at Ronaki Road.
Owen had bought the Ronaki Road site in 2004 for $3.5m and replaced the existing house with a modern stunner. Recently, he had been looking to move to waterfront Herne Bay. Gilbert suggested looking at the Rawene Avenue mansion in neighbouring Westmere and a deal was inked after three weeks of negotiating.
The owners of Rawene Avenue bought this mansion on Ronaki Road, in Auckland's Mission Bay, for $28m. Photo / Simon Devitt
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No.8 | Cremorne Street, Herne Bay, Auckland
Sale price: $27,500,000
Sale date: March 2018
Celebrity property developer Simon Herbert and his wife Paula, a designer, topped the sales records twice in 2018 when they bought the modern waterfront house on Herne Bay’s Cremorne Street. They had just sold their home on Remuera Road a couple of months earlier, for $26m (see below). The modern house was designed by top Kiwi architect Brent Hulena and has its own helicopter pad, beach access and boatshed as well as media and games rooms and a cliff-top pool. The house had been designed for clothing brand Line 7 owner Ross Munroe, before selling to Steve Lockwood of insurance business Crombie Lockwood. The deal was brokered by the Walls.
Selling for just over $27m is a waterfront stunner on Cremorne Street, in Auckland's Herne Bay. Photo / Supplied
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No.9 | Seymour Road, Mellons Bay, Auckland
Sale price: $26,300,000
Sale date: March 2022
The cliff-top mansion in east Auckland’s Mellons Bay smashed 2022’s house price record when it sold for more than $10m above its CV. The deal was brokered by Bayleys agents Angela Rudling and Micheal Chi. The mansion, known as Greystone, features a quirky library tower, a Napoleonic-style dining room, and garaging for seven cars. It sits on a 5700sqm section in a gated community and was crafted by architect William Algie in 2014 to replace the original 1950s house.
The East Auckland mansion on Seymour Road, in Mellons Bay, was 2022's most expensive home. Photo / Supplied
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No.10 | Remuera Road, Remuera, Auckland
Sale price: $26,000,000
Sale date: December 2017
The Walls also brokered the deal for the Herbert’s Remuera Arts and Crafts mansion. Previously owned by rich-lister David Richwhite, the 6100sqm property had been thoroughly modernised since the Herberts bought it in 2010. The current owner, a wealthy buyer from Asia, is currently seeking tenants for the mansion. The rent is $5500 per week.
Yours to rent for $5500 a week but much more to buy, this mansion on Remuera Road sold for $26m in 2017. Photo / Supplied
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A correction was made on June 24, 2025: OneRoof mis-stated the agency for licensed agents Jim Mays and Jelana Freeman who handled the sale of O'Neills Avenue, Takapuna. They were with Premium Real Estate, not Precision.
