As the year of big deals closes, OneRoof can reveal that two more under-the-radar multi-million dollar deals – one for $15.6 million, another for just over $11m – have settled.
Both deals for mansions on Remuera’s Victoria Avenue were closed by Bayleys agent Sarah Liu in June, but are now public.
The $11m house – a five-bedroom, six-bathroom, 507sqm mansion on more than 3000sqm – last changed hands in 2014 for $6.288m.
“It attracted a lot of interest, it had a big architecturally-designed renovation about 10 years ago, it had a pool, tennis court and beautiful city views, and was very private,” Liu said.
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“We had enquiry from the UK and Australia.”
Liu added that she had been working with 10-11 people looking for homes with budgets of $10m, double the number she had five years ago.
“Today’s $15m buyer would have been the $10m buyer five years ago. People are becoming richer and richer and the market keeps rising.”
Eight buyers made offers of more than $10m for the Victoria Avenue, Remuera house with pool and tennis court. Photo / Supplied
Another house on Victoria Avenue, Remuera sold for $6.608m, less than a year after it had changed hands for $4.788m. Photo / Supplied
Liu said some of the people who missed out on the $11m property are still looking.
“They’re picky at that level, and that’s hard to find. We do have some off-market listings in Remuera and St Heliers that we’re showing people through," she said, adding that she even had clients with $20m to $30m.
Prices are moving quickly upwards.
In another Victoria Avenue property deal in August, Liu re-sold a five-bedroom home on 1341sqm for $6.608m just days after it went on the market. The vendors had paid $4.78m for it a year earlier, and spruced up carpets, paint and presentation but had made no major renovations to kitchen or bathrooms to earn their $1.828m gain, she said.
At the beginning of the year, a house on Remuera Road, on the market for the first time in 40 years, sold for $11m. Photo / Supplied
Sometimes these deals take patience.
Last year, Liu settled the deal for one of the country’s top sales, selling the Westmere waterfront property of former Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell and entrepreneur Sharon Hunter for $17.68m. That property had been on the market for four years, initially with a $20m asking price, and hit the headlines for its famous tenant, Hollywood action star Jason Statham.
On the same street, last year’s most expensive house sold for $24m, in a deal brokered by NZ Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne. New owners, former All Black Ali Williams and billionaire ZURU Toys sibling Anna Mowbray are now demolishing the 12-year-old house to build a six-bedroom, 1590sqm mansion.
A house on Orakei Road sold for $11m in a deal brokered by Leila and David MacDonald. Photo / Supplied
Liu’s more expensive $15.6m Remuera deal is subject to strict confidentiality agreements.
Despite – or because of – lockdown, the luxury market continues to grow.
Barfoot & Thompson Remuera manager Carolyn Vernon said in the three months to September, the office sold 22 properties priced over $4m, although that was down on the 37 sold in the quarter before lockdown.
And in the first quarter of the year, Barfoot & Thompson Remuera agents Leila and David MacDonald, closed two $11m deals: a five-bedroom, colonial-style mansion on Orakei Road that sold a week after it was listed, and a renovated Arts and Crafts property on a massive 4383sqm section on Remuera Road that was on the market for the first time in 40 years.
Buyers with $10m-plus budgets want the size, privacy and wide city views that Remuera’s Victoria Avenue offers. Photo / Supplied
“It is picking up now for the last quarter of the year. People have been stuck at home in lockdown, looking around, now they’re not afraid to spend on luxury,” Vernon said.
“They want space, they want the latest tech. They want double grammar zone as there are now waiting lists in private schools, we haven’t seen that in years.
“If they see something, they’ll snaffle it. If it’s not their dream home, they’ll spend another $1m or $2m to create it.
“The off-market deals are bubbling away, people are thinking and waiting and saying ‘if you have someone interested, bring them through’.”
