A palatial home overlooking Wellington’s prestigious Oriental Bay, which is being touted as one of the city’s best, is on the market for sale with an RV of $5.4 million.
The large four-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 10 Hay Street couples a character villa with a modern extension by Athfield Architects. Features include a lift servicing the home's four levels, a double garage and flat lawn, which is a rarity in the hilly capital.
Bayley’s listing agent Ben Atwill said the house boasts impressive water views and is one the best on the market “I would even go as far to say it’s probably one of the nicest homes in Wellington outright. It’s certainly the nicest home that I have been to in Wellington,” he said.
“It’s not something you buy and then you have to go and put in another $100,000. This house is done.”
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Atwill said there was still plenty of demand for high-end properties in Wellington if the viewings of the Hay Street home were anything to go by.
“Because they don’t come up that often people seem to jump. Nobody seems to be worrying about interest rates because I suppose they sit outside of that fluctuation and volatility. That is still giving us a very, very strong buyer base of prestige homes.”
The premium homes were usually tightly held by the city’s business people, he said, and only came up for sale when the owners made a lifestyle change.
“We know Wellington is a work-to-live location. When people hit the time when they are retiring or want to downsize, they generally don’t stick around, they sort of head for other destinations – like Queenstown, Wanaka, Waiheke. They tend to move up and out,” he said.
The Hay Street home, in Oriental Bay, has been renovated from top to bottom. Photo / Supplied
Tommy's sales manager Tim Clark said the agency has been involved in many of the $3m-plus sales in the city this year, with its most expensive being a character rebuild on Wesley Street, in Kelburn, which sold last month for $4.6m.
Other high sales include $4.4m in June for a house on Burnham Street, in Seatoun, and $3.8m in May for a house on Barnard Street, in Wadestown.
Clark said most of the buyers in Wellington's prestige market were not actively looking, only jumping when the right property came up.
“This month we’ve only sold one to an out-of-town person, but everything else is local.”
The city is still facing a stock shortage, he said, and while more properties are being listed, they were selling just as quickly.
“Whilst we are listing 25 or 30 a week out of our office at the moment, the overall numbers aren’t going up because things are selling. So that’s an interesting trend in that the churn is there, so we are listing more, but we can’t list fast enough.
“Demand still outweighs supply for sure.”
A renovated four-bedroom, three-bathroom home at 44 McFarlane Street, in Mount Victoria, is still inviting enquiries over $4.95m, while a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 19 Brougham Street, in Mount Victoria, is asking for interest over $2.495m.
A modern beachfront property on Marine Parade, with an RV for $2.79m, sold this week. Photo / Supplied
Lowe & Co managing director Craig Lowe, whose agency has the year's top sale, $4.915m in February for a Georgian-style house on Oriental Parade, just this week sold a stunning waterfront home on Marine Parade, in Seatoun, which had an RV of $2.79m. The exact sale price cannot be disclosed until after settlement.
His agency also sold a property on Oriental Terrace for $3.42m and a villa on Austin Street, in Mount Victoria, for $3.21m. Both sold in April. It also has a property listed at 66 Ludlam Street, in Seatoun, asking for buyer enquiry over $3.175m.
Lowe said Wellington had a very limited amount of houses in the very ultra-high-end range compared to other cities such as Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown. “Wellington has a few big, big expensive houses, but they are more rare than they are in other big cities.”
High-end buyers are usually quite picky, he said, and often wanted large family homes on large sections in the city fringe suburbs of Kelburn, Thorndon, Oriental Bay, Mt Victoria and Roseneath. Parking, views and having an ensuite were also high on the shopping list.
“Sometimes properties can fall between the cracks a bit if they are palatial but they don’t have enough outdoor living.”
Lowe had no doubts that more properties would hit the market now the election was over. This would likely soak up the demand, which for the last three months has outstripped the capital’s supply.
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