For many Kiwis stuck in lockdown the only escape will be to look at photos of really expensive homes and to dream of being super rich.
OneRoof has found there are still some 100 properties for sale right now with search prices of more than $5 million - 14 of which are expected to sell for more than $10m.
The listings range from a super-penthouse in New Zealand's tallest apartment tower to luxury lodges around Queenstown Lakes and rural Waikato.
Some could well break the record for New Zealand's most expensive home, currently a seven-bedroom mansion in Auckland's Orkaei that sold for $38.5m in 2013.
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The top listing on OneRoof's list is The Pacifica super-penthouse is Auckland CBD. Marketed by New Zealand Sotheby’s Realty agent Pene Milne, the massive five-bedroom apartment with unrivalled views of the Waitematā Harbour is on the market for a sky-high $42.8m.
Milne, who closed the deal on last year’s biggest residential sale, said that Auckland property prices had risen across the board, so it was not surprising that the price of the city’s most expensive real estate would follow suit.
“[The $42m asking price] reflects the international market. Property prices have gone up and that’s reflected here,” she said, adding that its price per square metre of $34,000 was in line with other luxury residences in Auckland.
Space isn’t an issue at the top of the 178m-tall tower. Photo / Supplied
She said that the sheer size of the Pacifica super-penthouse and its view were standout features.
“It’s exclusive, there is nothing like it to compare. I never cease to have my breath taken away when I’m up there. There’s a 360-degree view of Auckland. It’s stunningly beautiful, I absolutely love showing people the space.”
Buyers can pick up a fully finished apartment for $42m or buy a ‘warm shell’ for just $36m. Photo / Supplied
The 178m-tall Pacifica, built by Hengyi Pacific, was completed at the start of this year and amenities include a heated lap pool, sauna, steam room, spa, gym, media room, residents’ lounge, library and barbeque terrace. The super-penthouse, however, comes with five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, six car parking spaces, a formal lounge, a chef-style kitchen plus a butler's kitchen, banquet-style dining area, cellar and wine tasting room.
Buyers who prefer to bring in their own architect for the fit-out can pick up the super-penthouse as a “warm shell” for a mere $36m.
The view from the penthouse at 51 Albert Street, in Auckland CBD. Photo / Supplied
Fellow New Zealand Sotheby’s Realty agent Jason Gaddes, who is selling the 41st floor penthouse of a new apartment and hotel block at 51 Albert Street in Auckland's central city, expects the same. While he has listed the penthouse for a search price of $11m “it will sell for north of $13m,” he told OneRoof, based on recent sales.
“We just did a deal for a full-floor of the sub-penthouse of 51 Albert, level 39, it went unconditional just before lockdown to a Kiwi buyer for north of $7m. He combined the two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments and the developer will do a bespoke fit-out on 330sqm, it will be spectacular.”
An immaculately renovated villa at 95 Victoria Avenue, Remuera, Auckland is asking for $22.5m. Photo / Supplied
Gaddes added that the final sub-penthouse in The International, the luxury retro-fit of the former Fonterra headquarters on Princes Street near Auckland University, also sold this month to an offshore buyer for around $7m.
Auckland’s most expensive standalone house listing is for a grandly renovated five-bedroom Victorian mansion at 95 Victoria Avenue, being marketed by agent Michael Boulgaris for an asking price of $22.5m.
A house in Fern Avenue, Epsom, Auckland has a search price of $15m. Photo / Supplied
Boulgaris also has search prices of $15m for a six-bedroom, six-garage modern Mediterranean house on Karori Crescent, off Paritai Drive in Orakei, the home of New Zealand’s most expensive house, and a sprawling six-bedroom Arts and Crafts home on Fern Avenue, Epsom.
Graham and Ollie Wall, of Wall Real Estate, have search prices of $12m for an eight-bedroom Arts and Crafts house on 251 Remuera Road and an immaculately renovated five-bedroom villa in Herne Bay, at 38 Hamilton Road, while their listing of a brand-new, three-bedroom architect-designed house at 76L Lucerne Road has a search price of $10m.
A striking modern house on three hectares in Wilding Road, Lake Hayes, near Arrowtown has a search price of $15m. Photo / Supplied
Rounding out the $10m-plus search prices in Auckland is a modern renovation at 244 Remuera Road, marketed by Bayleys agents Gary and Vicki Wallace.
Not surprisingly, luxury estates around Queenstown dominate the most expensive listings outside of Auckland.
A super-modern 700sqm five-bedroom home on three hectares on Wilding Road, Lake Hayes, just out of Arrowtown, is listed by Bayleys, Luxury Real Estate and NZ Sotheby’s International Realty. The home, with a search price of $15m, includes a state-of-the-art home theatre and indoor swimming pool. A property in neighbouring Haggitt Lane, Bendemeer Estate has an asking price well above that, at $18.5m.
An Italian-style lodge in Omokoroa, outside of Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, is likely to sell for more than its $10m search price. Photo / Supplied
Outside of Auckland and Queenstown, only one other property is looking for over $15m, a nearly 55-hectare estate with its own beach and two homes, on Whitipirorua Road, Onemana, outside of Coromandel Peninsula’s Whangamata jointly listed by Bayleys and Whangamata Real Estate.
Two other lodge estates are seeking more than $10m, one in Bay of Plenty and the other in Wairarapa.
A modern glass house in Martinborough in the Wairarapa has a search price of $10m. Photo / Supplied
But the Bayleys agent for a spectacular Italian-style lodge in Omokoroa, out of Tauranga, Jan Hodges, says that while the search price is currently $10m, the owner is really enjoying adding to the six-bedroom property and would need a fair bit more than that to be persuaded to sell.
And on the market since late last year is a modern glass-wrapped house on Foreman-Jury Road, Martinborough, which has a search price of $10m. The seven-bedroom house that sits on nine hectares is known as “The House Wrapped In Literature”, as it has an original poem written by former New Zealand poet laureate Jenny Bornholdt sandblasted onto glass panels.
There are a few country places looking for a little less than that.
Christchurch's most expensive search price of $8.1m is for a mansion on Hackthorne Road, Cashmere. Photo / Supplied
A five-bedroom country estate on Waikato’s Lake Karapiro with the look of a French chateau is being marketed by Re/Max’s Steve Starke, Don Ha and Jess Carlin with a search price of $9m.
The agent for a six-bedroom Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired lodge overlooking Lake Taupo at Acacia Bay, Rachel Webber of New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty, says that while there has been a lot of enquiry from offshore buyers, particularly from Australia, until New Zealand opens up again there’s unlikely to be movement on the property, which has a search price of $6.5m.
Outside of luxury Queenstown properties, the highest listing price in the South Island is for a grand 11-bedroom stately 1928 residence in Hackthorne Road, in blue-chip Cashmere, marketed by Christchurch Harcourts agents Cameron Bailey and Michelle Fu. Bailey said that they were expecting more than the $8.1m search price set in June.
“I don’t know where that figure will end,” he said.
