A rare beachfront property on one of the last remaining full sites smack bang in the middle of Orewa Beach, on Auckland's northern fringes, has sold for a record-breaking $7.8 million.
The large 1970s home with a rugby field backyard is already well known to Orewa beachgoers and can now add as being the most expensive beach property in the town to its fame.
The property, with impressive views of the Hauraki Gulf, had been in the same family for 70 years after they bought the section when the subdivision was first created and built a small bach on it.
The bach was bowled in the 1970s and replaced with the existing five-bedroom, three-bathroom holiday home to accommodate the owners' growing family.
Start your property search
Ray White listing agent Ross Hawkins said the owners made the hard decision to sell it as it was passed down through generations and the number of families involved expanded.
The home is on a rare and massive site running from the main road right through to popular Orewa Beach. “There’s only one or two of those left now that haven’t been subdivided.”
Read more:
- Buyer snaps up South Auckland do-up for $764,000, plans to flip it in six weeks
- Mortgage anxiety intensifies: How Kiwi borrowers got caught out by rates shift
- First home buyers told to stay away from $1 reserve auction
The property, which has a rateable value of $6.125m, offers plenty of options including building one or two properties near the road or even putting in a tennis court.
Hawkins said there had been some interest from developers, but they had been “a bit gun-shy” because of the uncertainty in the market when it sold in March. The sale price has only recently been made public.
“They weren’t really prepared to pay the money that an owner-occupier would.”
The new owners have lived in Orewa and other beachfront locations on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, and plan to fully remodel the existing home, which has a solid concrete base, high studs, and cedar, he said.
The home had been in the same family for 70 years. Photo / Supplied
The new owners plan to modernise the 1970s home. Photo / Supplied
“It was quite a good design for the new owners to be able to fully renovate and modernise using the existing structure. Whereas a lot of those older places to really get what you want you need to pull them down and start again, but it was a very good well-built structure which was good.”
They do not appear to have any immediate plans to develop the remaining section.
“But in saying that this owner-occupier has a development plan up their sleeve for later – they have just cemented their future really.”
Auckland Council is also carrying out rock wall protection and sand replenishment work which provided reassurance to buyers looking for waterfront properties.
The sale broke the previous record for the beach town when a single buyer bought a pair of waterfront homes on separate titles for a total of $7.8m in November 2021.
The deck looks out to the water and Orewa Beach. Photo / Supplied
The home had a lawn reminiscent of a rugby field. Photo / Supplied
Earlier this year, a brand-new house on Hibiscus Coast Highway between Waiwera and Hatfields Beach sold for $4.7m to the first person who viewed it.
Also for sale in Orewa is an Italian-inspired three-bedroom, two-bathroom property, one back from the beach, at 6a Noel Street that has been owned by the same people for 20 years. The property is being marketed by Bayleys agents Lynnette Thomas and Simon Wilde and is priced by negotiation.
Hawkins is also marketing a property at 14 The Esplanade, Campbells Bay, which is on the market for the first time in 60 years. An original 1960s five-bedroom house and a second 1980s one-bedroom boatshed sit on the last remaining 1922sqm beachfront site.
The property has a CV of $8.95m, but Hawkins earlier told OneRoof that the price “should be up there with the Waiheke and Omaha waterfront price levels also of circa $10m.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Orewa
