The owners of a multi-million-dollar penthouse apartment on one of Auckland's wealthiest streets have bought the house in front of them for $10 million.
The sale price is the highest this year for Remuera, but agents were unaware of the deal until it appeared in OneRoof’s figures this month.
Records seen by OneRoof show that the new owners of the house, which sits on a 2187sqm section off Remuera Road, also own a top-floor apartment that looks out over the property.
OneRoof reached out to them for comment but they declined to discuss the private deal, which was closed in February.
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The property they bought was a three-bedroom house built by renowned New Zealand architect Horace Massey in 1945 as his own residence. It had a 2021 CV of $9.4m - $9.1m of which was for the land, which is zoned for high-density terrace houses and apartments.
OneRoof understands that the buyers did not buy the property to develop.
Records show that their apartment sold in 2014 for $5.75m - at the time, one of the highest prices for an apartment in the city - and now has a CV of $8.1m.
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Many of the apartments located on Remuera Road are advertised for their breath-taking views of the Sky Tower and the Hauraki Gulf.
Ray White Remuera real estate agent Steve Koerber, who was not involved in the February sale nor had knowledge of the owners' intentions, said that over the years he had dealt with buyers who had bought neighbouring properties specifically to protect their own views or privacy.
“They put height restrictions, covenants, on the title,” he said. “It’s not that common, but it does happen if they have the ability to afford it.”
Koerber said it was becoming more common for buyers to avoid areas that may get more apartments or townhouses.
Ray White Remuera agent Steve Koerber: "People are now hunting out places that will stay as a single house zone." Photo / Fiona Goodall
He said he had buyers walk away from a large family home he was listing when they spotted that neighbouring property could be rezoned for apartments under a proposed planning change by Auckland Council. Commonly known as plan change 78, the change in zoning is driven by the Government’s push for more intensification in the city.
“Plan change 78 has not been approved yet, but people didn’t want to buy a house if its zoning might change. People are now hunting out places that will stay as a single house zone,” Koerber said.
It is not uncommon either for wealthy homeowners to buy neighbouring houses to create bigger, more luxurious compounds. Rich-lister Rod Duke added two neighbouring plots to his former Remuera mansion to create a 3650sq m estate with tennis court, guest pavilion and underground carpark, while three years ago tech entrepreneur Guy Haddleton spent nearly $17m buying up two neighbouring homes to expand his beachfront footprint on the North Shore.
Koerber said the blocking tactic had created another market for sites with development potential. “It improves the market for those [sites] as it creates a second tier of buyers, someone who wants to protect their view, not just developers,” he said.
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