Glendowie is home to Kiwi billionaire Graeme Hart and his $102 million clifftop estate, but buyers looking to break into the Auckland suburb may not need eight or nine-figure salaries to land a home next to New Zealand’s wealthiest man.
The great thing about Glendowie, says Barfoot & Thompson real estate agent Paul Neshausen, is that reasonably priced homes can be found on the suburb’s wealthiest streets.
“You can buy [a home on] Riddell Road for around $1.8m that’s just a few 100 metres from a $12m home. I don't know that you'd be able to do that in Herne Bay or Remuera.”
Neshausen cites one of his current listings, 15A Riddell Road, as an example. The three bedroom, two bathroom plaster home is on the market for sale by negotiation and has a 2021 CV of $1.32m.
Start your property search
“The location is brilliant. It’s across the road from the shops, in a good school zone and on the private school bus run. You get good neighbours, it’s private and safe, and the [price] is in the mid-$1ms.”
In other parts of the suburb, a nicely presented brick and tile home will set a buyer back around $2m, says Neshausen, pointing to the $2.3m sale of a four-bedroom home on Athlone Road last November as an example.
For sale: 15A Riddell Road, Glendowie, has a 2021 CV of $1.32m. Photo / Supplied
This four-bedroom property at 32a Jefferson Street, Glendowie, is a near-new home. Photo / Supplied
“The beautiful thing about Glendowie is there's a real beach vibe around here,” he says. “You’re not stuck out in the burbs. These houses you drive past have got canoes and bikes in the garage. It’s a really enjoyable family zone.”
Ray White real estate agent Vanessa Mowlem says the suburb is popular with families with school age children. “It’s a tight little area. People tend to stay within the area when the kids are from five to 20 years old,” she says, adding that many buyers look for full size sections where they can have a swimming pool.
Once the children have flown the nest, owners no longer need the school zones and big house, and many sell up and move to other parts of the country, such as the Bay of Plenty and Queenstown. “The kids have left home and they don't need the big size. They don't need to be in the school zones anymore.”
Glendowie's clifftop properties are some of Auckland's most desirable and expensive. Photo / Chris Tarpey
Both Neshausen and Mowlem say the top end of the market is doing well, although Glendowie isn’t immune to the pressures in the wider Auckland. The latest Oneroof-Valocity house value figures show Auckland’s average property value fell 4.3% in the three months to the end of June. Glendowie’s performance over the quarter was slightly better, with its average property value sliding just 0.6% to $2.686m.
Mowlem has two Glendowie properties on the market for sale by way of price by negotiation. One on millionaires’ row, a large four-bedroom home with outdoor pool at 4 Clouston Street, and a four-bedroom near-new build home further inland at 32a Jefferson Street.
Some of the city’s most desirable homes can be found along the ridge overlooking the Tamaki River where it enters the Waitemata Harbour. It’s where Hart and other Kiwi rich-listers live.
2 Peacock Street, Glendowie, is billed a passion project. Photo / Supplied
Homes along the ridge rarely come up for sale, says Neshausen, but “when they do, they’re either old properties that you could bowl, or renovate, or a big beautiful mansion.
“Homes on the ridge have big plots of land, world-class sea views and a lot of them have their own private beach access. The biggest bits of land in the entire bays are all in Glendowie. If you said to me, ‘go find me a 1000sqm section in Mission Bay’ I'd be struggling. In Glendowie there are still a few.”
The price of Glendowie’s big-section properties can start at $5m, “for a bowler”, but can easily hit the $15m mark at the other end, says Neshausen. “If it’s something with a gorgeous home on it, you’re looking at $10m to $15m.”
Further back from the cliff , a 1000sqm section costs less. “I've got one at 2 Peacock Street which is 1000sqm” he says. “That's a bowler. Or a passion project. It’s in the mid threes, by virtue of the shape of the section. It doesn't lend itself to a development site.”
