Two luxury properties on Waiheke Island have sold for record prices in the last month, as wealthy buyers scramble to secure a dwindling supply of trophy homes.
A Hamptons-inspired house on Ocean View Road, in Oneroa, sold for eight figures to a buyer who was looking for a near-new home by the beach that didn’t need any work.
And an estate in the 130ha gated Park Point enclave fetched $12m – the island’s top price for a residential property this year - in an off-market deal.
Those sales, however, are miniscule compared to the $72m Mainfreight chairman and Waiheke local Bruce Plested paid earlier this year for a 300ha property off Man O’ War Bay Road.
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The property, which includes 5km of private coastline, is one of the biggest parcels of land to have hit the Auckland market in years and had been earmarked for development, but Plested has said he plans to protect the land, calling it “one of most beautiful properties on earth”.
Real estate agents have reported an influx of new money into the island, with buyers happy to spend between $8m and $15m for a private slice of paradise.
Bayleys agent Mana Tahapehi said that he had had serious interest in the Ocean View Road property within days of it hitting the market. “This one pretty well ticked all the boxes,” he said.
The 1171sqm coastal property came with a three-bedroom 292sqm house and a two-bedroom guest house designed by Christian Anderson and decked out by interior designer Jen Pack.
Tahapehi said demand for property on the island was high, and that buyers were comfortable spending “$8m to $10m” to secure the right home.
“They want waterfront or hilltop or cliff views, immaculately done. They don’t want to go through the three years or more building,” he said.
However, some buyers were prepared to spend big money on a do-up in the right location.
The view across Oneroa Beach on Waiheke Island. Property values on the island have jumped more than $500,000 in the last 12 months. Photo / Getty Images
Tahapehi said he sold a “little two-bed bach” in Onetangi this month for $7.2m, with the buyer likely to do a complete overhaul of the property.
The residential deals in Waiheke are getting bigger and bigger. A cliff-top home on Alan Murray Lane, in Oneroa, sold for $10.25m in June while a house with two guest cottages on Ocean View Road sold for $9m in April.
Waiheke Homes agent Tobias Roebuck-Ward, who closed the sale on Alan Murray Lane, said he had done deals for $8m and $7.5m in the past month, and had another $9m sale in the works.
“The wealthy have decided now is the time to buy on Waiheke, and many of them are new to the island,” he said. “I’ve got one client who can spend up to $15m. They don’t need to sell anything in order to buy.”
This renovated house on Awaawaroa Road is expected to fetch big money. Photo / Supplied
Roebuck-Ward, who is currently marketing a luxury Mediterranean style property on Awaawaroa Road that was completely overhauled by its hotelier owners, said that privacy was really important to top-end buyers – they wanted homes off the beaten track away from public view.
“People at that level really want to be discreet,” he said.
Demand is putting upwards pressure on prices at all levels. OneRoof figures show the average property value on the island has jumped 8.9% in the last three months to just over $2m. The average gain for Waiheke homeowners over the last 12 months has been more than half a million dollars.
Ray White Waiheke owner Matthew Smith said the big money was now spreading to more modest properties, pointing to a recent $7m sale of a Lockwood home on Great Barrier Road, in Enclosure Bay.
A luxury home on Alan Murray Lane sold for $10.25m in June. Photo / Supplied
“It’s a nice Lockwood with a nice view, but not architecturally spectacular. The buyer wanted something in that area, and we door-knocked. They have other land to build on, but at this level, they don’t need to sell in order to buy something bigger,” Smith said.
Smith said enquiries for plots in the exclusive Wawata Estate he is marketing had soared through lockdown, with two properties selling in the past week, for $3.5m and $2.25m respectively.
“It’s unbelievable, the big hitters with city money. A few have come in by helicopter to look before Waiheke’s borders closed. They’re not Omaha people; they want the convenience of being right by the city.”
Smith said one of the buyers was an expat Kiwi based in Brazil who had already engaged architects for the build.
“He’ll come back to retire here in five years and it will be all done. It’ll be a $10,000 per square metre build, high spec. You’re looking at $4m to $5m at least.”
He added: “These buyers are very private. They engage the best architects and they’re prepared to pay the ‘Waiheke tax’ - the extra time and costs that come with building on the island.”
