A clutch of high-end sales, including one for more than $6 million, has turned the spotlight on one of Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Aaron Foss had two Orakei homes sell under the hammer this week, one for $3.8m and the other for $3.42m.
The $3.8m sale was a five-bedroom 1930s house on a 882sqm site on Tuhaere Street.
Foss said there were four bidders in competition for the home, most of whom were family buyers, but the winning bid was from an investor who plans to hold onto it for future development.
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“In that location you can’t over-capitalise,” Foss said. “You are around the corner from $30m properties on Paritai Drive.”
A three-year-old, four-bedroom house on Aotea Street went for $3.42m. The two-storeyed home, which had a lift, wine cellar, home cinema and office had attracted three bidders after just two weeks on the market.
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“Most of the buyers had already sold, so are looking for a place to move into and there’s a shortage of listings,” Foss said.
Another Orakei agent, Bayleys' Sarah Liu, told OneRoof that she had buyers prepared to snap up older places in the suburb to rebuild.
“Orakei is a rising place. If people are looking for nice water views, there’s not much in Remuera or they are tiny sections.
“Here there are a lot of old houses on big sections, so you can build a modern house. People are quite picky - they want to build exactly what they want in exactly the right location,” Liu said.
An April sale, settled this month, is a case in point: a dated plaster 1990s house on 1017sqm on Okahu Street that went for $6.16m after five offers, some unconditional.
A 1930s house on Tuhaere Street, around the corner from Paritai Drive, sold under the hammer for $3.8m. Photo / Supplied
Bidding from three bidders pushed the price of a five-bedroom house on Aotea Street to $3.42m. Photo / Supplied
“It went for the land value. The buyers will remove the house but those lovely views are forever,” she said, adding that had the property not been subject to height restrictions (it can stay only at two levels), it would have gone for more.
She expected buyers would spend at least $6m or $7m on a new-build home, adding that there are still plenty of wealthy buyers who aren’t afraid of the escalating time and cost of a new-build to get exactly what they want in the right location.
Liu has recently listed another house on Okahu Street, a completely renovated 1990s Ron Sang home. With seven bedrooms spread over three levels and nearly 600sqm, on a 1247sqm corner site, the property shows the sorts of “after” transformations around Orakei.
“The owners spent probably three years doing this, but are now moving back to London,” said Liu, adding that she has recently been fielding offers over $13m for the home.
Liu said she has also buyers keen on a family estate spread over three sections at 12 and 14 Rewiti Street. The combined properties, which include a three-bedroom 1930s house (which sold only a year ago for $3.3m), a 1990s architect-designed four-bedroom home with a pool, and a five-bedroom home split into two residences, sit on a large 2178sqm site with breathtaking water and city views.
OneRoof records show the properties have a combined CV of nearly $9m.
Buyers are expected to fork out $13m for a completely renovated Ron Sang house at 10 Okahu Street, Orakei. Photo / Supplied
A five-bedroom house on Rautara Street, Orakei, sold for well over $3m after its July auction. Photo / Supplied
“Someone would keep all the land, build a luxury house with a pool and a tennis court, maybe spend another $10m. Some of my American buyers with $25m or $26m to spend, they love the views but the interiors are just not as luxurious as they have in America,” she said.
Some vendors would prefer to remain quiet too, Liu said, pointing to five off-market listings for properties between Remuera and the eastern suburbs and the North Shore, which are looking for between $10m and $30m.
Despite the rarified top-end prices, Ray White Orakei business owner John Campbell said that the suburb is one of Auckland’s most diverse, with offerings that include affordable and social housing. But buyers are keenest in the middle range homes with prices around $3m.
Last month Campbell with co-owner Jane Horgan sold a 10-year-old, five-bedroom home on Rautara Street for over $3m the day after auction, which had four bidders.
Horgan said that the last three auctions for properties between mid-$1m and over $3m had four and five bidders, a number that was certainly different from earlier in the year.
“We would love stock, but vendors have stopped listing,” Campbell said.
“One type are confident, they want to sell first so they know how much they have to spend when they buy, but others won’t sell until they’ve bought.
“And that’s problematic because of the shortage of stock.”
However, Campbell said there are good signs of a lot of activity in the past month, with buyers through open homes, multiple bidders at auction and multi-offers.
The company has also completed an off-market deal for a “spectacular” new-build home for close to $6m. Campbell said the family buyers had been looking for over two years, with particular requirements for a lock-up-and-leave house that hadn’t compromised on the quality they were seeking.
“But we’ve got a range of buyers trying to buy in the area, from the early $1m to the top end,” Campbell said.
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