A West Auckland ranch modelled on Oprah Winfrey’s $10 million luxury estate in Hawaii has hit the market for sale, as agents report a lift in interest in “X-factor” homes and entry-level homes in the city’s western suburbs.
The six-bedroom colonial mansion sits on a 6700sqm section in a prestigious enclave in Oratia, Waitakere, and goes to auction on December 2.
The original developer had modelled it on photos of Winfrey’s island hideaway, with the property boasting faux shutters and a wrap-around porch that wouldn’t look out of place in the US.
Read more:
Start your property search
- Kiwi legend's mansion for sale: 'Roy Orbison played guitar in the driveway'
- House mum and dad bought on a handshake ends up selling for $5m
- Block stars lose money on toughest reno project ... but they're still happy
Ray White Titirangi owner Craig Smith, who is marketing 33 Cochran Road, said the developer spared no expense in the build and paid close attention to every detail of Winfrey’s mansion. “This home is just the most wonderful haven,” he said.
Oratia’s Cochran Glade, where the property is situated, is an exclusive neighbourhood in West Auckland. 33 Cochran Road is just one of four houses built by the same developer, around 14 years ago, and all sit in the $2 million-plus property bracket.
The owners did a complete renovation of the kitchen area at 33 Cochran Road, reconfiguring the zone and extending the floor space. Photo / Supplied
The lifestyle property sits in an exclusive enclave in Oratia and comes with an outdoor pool. Photo / Supplied
The Winfrey mansion that 33 Cochran Road is based on has featured in numerous home and garden magazines and is the result of a massive restoration project that the Hollywood star undertook.
The estate recently made the headlines as it was one of thousands of homes affected by the wildfires that plagued Hawaii in August.
Smith, who owns five Ray White offices across West Auckland, said that properties at all price points were moving in his area.
Winfrey's Hawaii mansion at the start of its restoration. It is said to be worth over $10m. Photo / Getty Images
Winfrey is one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Photo / Getty Images
“It’s the low equity [deposit] buyer that’s driving that market, so our biggest concern is that banks are getting pretty close to saturation for that lending," he said.
“Investor buyers aren’t back, and buying off-the-plan is struggling.”
Smith said there had been an uptick in buyers in recent months, but that homes in West Auckland suburbs such as Oratia were hard to come by. Lifestyle properties and homes with the “X-factor” were proving popular at open homes, with Smith expecting interest to continue through December and January.
Harcourts agent Aman Gulia said the West Auckland market right now was the busiest he had ever seen it – to the point that he and his team had to close off taking on any new listings until the New Year.
“We closed off at 72 listings – 29 of them in West Auckland. We’re now getting photos and listings ready to start straight away in January with the rest,” he said.
Three-bedroom townhouses for sale at 10 Newington Road, in Henderson, Auckland. Photo / Supplied
Gulia said that his vendors, many of them developers selling finished terraces or townhouses, sensed the market changing in June or July.
“Prices weren’t high, but the sales volume was. And then prices have started moving up, not crazily. Although we might get outliers – that’s from people getting emotional, some just go crazy.”
As they’re divesting their finished stock, Gulia said developers were now clamouring for sites, but the stock wasn’t there.
“We used to have 50 or 60 sites, now we have 25 to 30. Smaller sites that can have four to eight houses, I can literally sell that in 24 hours, up to $2.5m to $3m max. That’s the sweet spot,” he said.
He added that a lot of the finished terrace homes selling in West Auckland were the tail end of projects that sold off-the-plan in 2021 or 2022, so prices were often lower as developers quit the last 40% or so of the homes.
Gulia’s listings include a 13-home project of two and three-bedroom terraces at 10 Newington Road, Henderson, seven two-bedroom homes at 23 Tudor Road, Henderson, six three-bedroom terrace houses at 1286 New North Road, Avondale, and three and four-home projects in Glen Eden.
One of the few development sites is a three-bedroom house on an 888sqm section with zoning for urban density at 26 Cron Avenue, Te Atatu South, which he and Candice Chen are bringing to auction December 9.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in West Auckland
