New Zealand’s super-rich have cut back on their post-Covid real estate spending, with the number of $5 million-plus sales dropping fast.
OneRoof analysis of all settled residential sales in 2022 and 2021 shows the rapid cool-down in the housing market has had an impact on the top end of the market.
There were 99 $5m-plus sales in the nine months to end of September 2022 – down 48% on the 194 recorded in the nine months to the end of September last year.
Of those 99 $5m-plus sales in 2022, eight were in the $10m-plus bracket, and 24 were sold off market, including the year’s top settled sale –$20m for a house on Paritai Drive, in Auckland’s Orakei.
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Auckland claimed the biggest share of $5m-plus sales, 74 of them, with Tauranga at number two, with eight – the highest being $11m for a luxury home on Oceanbeach Road, in Mount Maunganui.
The total value of $5m-plus sales for 2022 was $667.31m, nearly 50% down on the $1.311 billion recorded in the nine months to the end of September last year.
The comparison is not strictly fair, as the data set for 2022 only captures settled sales and there will be $5m-plus sales made this year that have yet to settle. However, the overall decline in the number of top-end sales is unlikely to change.
The list below gives for each region the top settled sale of a listed property.
Auckland:
The Victorian mansion on Remuera Road in Remuera sold for $12m. Photo / Supplied
While the off-market sale price of $20m for a renovated home on Orakei’s Paritai Drive was Auckland’s biggest sale this year, the top settled sale price for a listed property was the $12m paid in May for a grand Victorian house on Remuera Road that sold just weeks after it hit the market.
Listing agent Steen Nielsen, from Ray White Remuera, said the 577sqm five-bedroom heritage mansion, complete with an indoor swimming pool, was one of only 10 or so original places left on the Remuera ridge. Early indications from buyers were that they would expect to spend $5m on major renovations to take advantage of its trophy position and views.
The property had a 2021 CV of $10.4m and the sale price was more than $10m over what the property traded for in 1989.
This year’s top price does not match the $29m paid last December for another modern house on Remuera Road, nor the top price ever paid, in 2013, of $39m for the Paritai Drive mansion in Orakei, formerly owned by disgraced financier Mark Hotchin.
Bay of Plenty:
The beachfront mansion on Mount Maunganui's Oceanbeach Road sold for $11m. Photo / Supplied
A beachfront property on Mt Maunganui’s sought-after Oceanbeach Road sold for a record-breaking $11m in May this year.
The price of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom beachfront home on a 838sqm section was almost double its 2021 RV of $5.96m and trumped last year’s $10.2m record set by Sir Colin Giltrap, when he sold his five-bedroom penthouse on Maunganui Road.
The architecturally-designed home backs onto sand dunes with views of the Pacific Ocean and islands. The Bayleys agent who brokered the sale, Sharon Hall, earlier told OneRoof her role was “playing Cupid”.
“My role was just to shoot the arrow straight through the hearts.”
Queenstown:
A five-bedroom house on Park Street, Queenstown, sold for $8.15m in January. Photo / Supplied
A five-bedroom, five-bathroom modern house on Park Street, Queenstown, sold for $8.15m in January.
While the sale by NZ Sotheby’s International Realty of the architect-designed house with a gymnasium, sauna and spa pool on a private laneway above the Frankton walkway is the region’s top settled sale, the company also inked a $9m deal for a four-bedroom home on Queenstown Hill that is subject to strict confidentiality clauses. The property sold as photos were being prepared for listing, so did not make it to market.
A contract for a luxury lodge just outside of Queenstown for $25.75m, signed in April, will not settle until late 2023, when the build of the Forest Line Rise complex is expected to finish.
The four-bedroom 920sqm house will have two pools, sauna, gym and treatment room and be part of a larger luxury eco-retreat.
Waikato:
Buyers paid $6.25m for a waterfront bach on Tangaroa Road, Whangamata, that will eventually be bowled. Photo / Supplied
The region’s top sale price was the $6.525m paid at a June auction for a beachfront house on Tangaroa Road, in the popular Coromandel beach town of Whangamata.
The classic Kiwi three-bedroom bach fetched more than $2m above its 2020 RV, and will be bowled to build a new home. It is the second highest price for the town, almost $1m shy of the record $7.41m paid in June 2021 for a four-bedroom beachfront bach on Seaview Road.
The town’s third highest sale price was recorded in 2019 when a Hamptons-style three-bedroom home, also on Seaview Road, sold for $5.075m.
Taranaki:
A near-new mansion on Courtenay Street, New Plymouth, sold for $5.5m. Photo / Supplied
The $5.5m paid for a 560sqm five-bedroom modern house on Courtenay Street, in the New Plymouth suburb of Strandon, broke the city’s earlier record, set in November last year, of $3.5m for another modern house on Hamblyn Street.
McDonald Real Estate agent Pete Baylis, who brokered both deals, said that in defiance of the sceptics who said that he would never find a buyer when he listed Courtney Street for $5.4m, the right people understood the value.
“We had three interested parties, I have a tight database and only took through people with that money. They understood the quality of the build, that it would cost $8500 per sqm to build that today, it’s outstanding quality and value.
“Four or five years ago, a $1m house was really something. Last year, I sold nine houses over $1m in the month of October,” Baylis told OneRoof, adding that he had another listing asking $3.3m hitting the market this month.
Nelson:
A 373sqm home on The Cliffs, in Britannia Heights, Nelson, sold for $4.6m. Photo / Supplied
A luxury modern 373sqm home on The Cliffs, in Britannia Heights, Nelson, settled in January this year for the region’s top price of $4.6m.
The architect-designed three-bedroom home on one of the city’s top streets, with panoramic views of Tasman Bay, came with resource consents to subdivide a 1025sqm lot in addition to the 1825sqm lot that the house sat on. The four-year old home’s 2021 ratings valuation was $3.4m.
Hawke’s Bay:
Buyers paid $4.6m for a property on Walcott Lane, out of Havelock North in the Hawke’s Bay. Photo / Supplied
It is not surprising that a stylish four-bedroom house designed and built by Hawke’s Bay’s top designer, Andy Coltart of Black Barn fame, made the region’s top settled sale price of $4.6m in February.
Bayleys agent Gretchen Paape billed the lifestyle property on Walcott Lane as part of a 51-hectare shared estate with walking tracks, a communal tennis court and stunning views of the Tuki Tuki Valley and Te Mata Peak, just 10 minutes from Havelock North. It had a ratings valuation of $2.45m.
Canterbury:
A 791sqm house on Queen Elizabeth Drive, Mairehau in Christchurch sold in for $4.5m. Photo / Supplied
A modern five-bedroom house spread over 791sqm on Queen Elizabeth Drive, Mairehau in Christchurch, set Canterbury’s top price for the year when it sold in May for $4.5m – nearly $2m over its 2019 ratings valuation – after just over a month on the market.
The 6309sqm property, set behind gates, was rightly called breath-taking by the agents marketing it, Harcourts’ Jack Milligan and Blair Smith. It included garaging for 10 cars, a gym and beauty studio, swimming pool, spa, tennis court and expansive outdoor entertaining.
Wellington:
A four-bedroom house on Wilkinson Street, in Wellington’s Oriental Bay, sold for $4.2m. Photo / Supplied
An eight-year-old four-bedroom house on Wilkinson Street, in Wellington’s Oriental Bay, sold for $4.2m in May, making it the city’s top house sale.
However, that price didn’t beat the apartment record of $5.31m paid for a three-bedroom apartment in a Parisian-style block on Oriental Parade, also in Oriental Bay, in April. At the time it was listed for sale last October the art collector owner had hoped to get $6.25m, but the eventual sale price was still $1m more than what he had paid for it two years ago.
Northland:
Architect Ken Crosson designed the bach on McGregor Street in Taiharuru, Whangarei, that sold for $3.5m. Photo / Supplied
A Ken Crosson-designed cedar bach right on the beach at Taiharuru, on the north eastern edge of Whangarei Heads, sold for $3.5m in April – nearly $2m more than its 2019 ratings valuation.
The four-bedroom house overlooking McGregor’s Bay was a modern twist on the iconic Kiwi bach, with sleeping for up to 14 people over the two wings of the house, and storage for the beach toys on the 622sqm site.
Marlborough:
Buyers paid $2.85m for the estate in Murphys Road, Springlands, Blenheim. Photo / Supplied
An extraordinary six-bedroom heritage residence on a 7540sqm estate on Murphys Road in the Blenheim suburb of Springlands, set the district’s top price when it sold for $2.85m in May – more than double its 2020 ratings valuation of $1.27m. Records show it sold 25 years ago for $425,000.
The Arts and Crafts-style main residence had original fireplaces and timber joinery, manicured park-like grounds and a swimming pool complex with a spa and entertaining area.
Gisborne:
The house on Lloyd George Road, in Gisborne's Wainui sold for $2.4m. Photo / Supplied
A four-bedroom modern house on Lloyd George Road, Wainui, was Gisborne’s top sale when it sold for $2.4m in February. The 264sqm house on a roomy 4049sqm section was a few blocks back from the city’s popular Wainui beach.
Manawatu/Whanganui:
An estate with a swimming pool and tennis court on Eaton Crescent, Whanganui, set a record when it sold for $2m. Photo / Supplied
A five-bedroom, four-bathroom mansion made the headlines in Whanganui when it sold in June for $2m, beating the city’s earlier record of $1.6m.
In a town where the median price hovers around $500,000, the 1920s house on 4000sqm of land on Eaton Crescent, complete with tennis court and swimming pool, stood out. The agent for the sale, Property Brokers’ Vicky Todd, said the house was on the market just shy of two months as it was shown only to pre-vetted buyers.
The Eaton Crescent house was also the most expensive in Whanganui when it last sold in 2014 for $800,000.
Southland:
A house overlooking Lake Te Anau sold for $1.95m. Photo / Supplied
An 800sqm three-bedroom house overlooking Lake Te Anau was the region’s top sale when it settled in January for $1.95m. The 10-year-old solid plaster and schist house sat on a 1480sqm site on Howden Street and had a 2021 ratings valuation of $1.34m.
West Coast:
A beach house in Tasman’s Kaurangi National Park sold for $990,000. Photo / Supplied
A smart beach house on Haile Lane in Tasman’s Kaurangi National Park was the region’s most expensive buy, selling for $990,000 in February. The tidy house, tucked in the bush about 400 metres from the water, was billed as sleeping 12 to 14 people, with potential to earn good money as a short-term holiday rental.
