The multi-million-dollar Auckland home that was once owned by former Prime Minister Sir John Key is being marketed for sale by a real estate agent who was found guilty last year of unsatisfactory conduct by the Real Estate Authority, OneRoof can reveal.
The six-bedroom mansion on Saint Stephens Avenue, in Parnell, made a surprise re-appearance on the open market last week after a private deal with a New Zealand-based buyer collapsed.
The property, which the Key family sold in 2017 for $23.5 million, is listed with Suburban Realty sales agent Yi Wei Tang.
Tang, who also goes under the last name Lowndes, was found guilty of unsatisfactory conduct by the Real Estate Authority Disciplinary Tribunal in August last year.
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Tang had in 2015 resold a property in Warkworth for $5.8m prior to settlement to a business partner while both retained a 10% interest. She did not obtain an agency agreement, but took a $1.25m finder's fee.
In its decision, the tribunal found Tang “demonstrated a lack of skill, care, competence, and diligence when carrying out real estate agency work" in relation to the REA rules. She was found in breach of sections 134 and 135 of the Act and Rules 5.1, 6.1 and 6.2 of the Code of Conduct and fined $4000.
Tang told OneRoof that she suspended her licence in 2018 to “run another business up north”. REA records show she reactivated her licence a month after the REA’s decision was released.
She now works for independent agency Suburban Realty.
The REA tribunal, in discussing penalties, said in its decision it could not consider suspending Tang’s licence because she had already suspended her licence in 2018 and was not working as an agent at the time of the ruling in August 2021.
Tang told OneRoof that the ruling was “not relevant” to the sale of the Saint Stephens Avenue mansion. “All that [tribunal] decision is not true and I helped people for the middle of that case,” she said.
Tang, who first became a real estate agent in 2009, said she disagreed with the decision because some of the information was incorrect, telling OneRoof that it was a “complicated story” and not her fault.
The only reason she didn’t appeal the decision was because she was 65 years old and didn’t have the energy for it, not because she had done something wrong. “Life is too short, why do you just have to fight with everybody – no point so that’s why I just let it go. That doesn’t mean I have it wrong.”
Suburban Realty owner John Endean said while he was Tang’s manager at the time of the Warkworth deal, he wasn’t aware of what was going on as it was perceived to be a private transaction between her and two acquaintances.
“She took the unsatisfactory conduct rap rather than prolong with lawyers and all the rest of the palaver that goes on with that.”
Tang told OneRoof that the Saint Stephens Avenue mansion was listed after a private deal with a New Zealand-based buyer fell through. The buyer, she said, did not have enough funds to settle on the property.
The sprawling home, which has a pool and spa and a 2021 CV of $22m, is currently being rented, Tang said, She said that contrary to media reports that it had been neglected, the house was looking “beautiful”.
The listing highlights the property’s connection to Sir John Key. Under the headline “Former Prime Minister's Mansion”, the marketing material states: “While he [Sir John] and his family lived in this exclusive city avenue a short stroll to Parnell village, their modern stately mansion hosted politicians, international states people and even royalty - in sumptuous style.”
Even five years after Sir John sold the property, the house still holds the record for the blue-chip suburb. A property on Balfour Road is the second most expensive in Parnell, selling for $13.2m at the end of last year.
A spokesperson for REA confirmed to OneRoof that Tang was "currently an active licensee". "The register lists one complaint upheld against them in August 2021 by the Real Estate Agents Disciplinary Tribunal (Tribunal). The Tribunal made a finding of unsatisfactory conduct and ordered penalties of censure and fine, as well as publication of its decision. The individual renewed their license in September 2021, following a period of voluntary suspension.”
