There is a message in the recent sale of a three-bedroom architecturally-designed house in one of Remuera’s top streets, says agent Linda Galbraith: “Make it happen. If you want something, do it.”
Auckland’s floods and the housing market slump got in the way of the sale of the Terry Hitchcock-designed Burwood Crescent home for a while but when the property sold this month Galbraith took instant phone calls from disappointed would-be buyers.
Some had fallen hard for the house but had been waiting to sell their own house first.
The property was the Auckland base of DDB Global chairman Marty O’Halloran and his wife Deborah, but the couple only ever bought it on a temporary basis, said Galbraith.
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OneRoof records show they paid $4.7 million in April 2021. They upgraded, including adding a wine cellar and automated awnings.
Galbraith said the sale price covered what they had paid and a little more but the O’Hallorans had been prepared to wait for the right price.
The property was listed in 2022 but only lightly marketed while the couple was in New York.
It was put back on the market in October last year when ad supremo Marty O’Halloran had clarity about where he would be based, which would be Auckland and the couple had bought a larger family home.
“It was really just a filler for the transition they were doing between Auckland and New York.”
There was a lot of interest when the property first came to market but the timing was not great and market conditions worked against a sale, said Galbraith.
The Burwood Crescent house was upgraded after the vendors picked it up in 2021 for $4.7m. Photo / Supplied
Vendor Marty O'Halloran has recently stepped into the role of global chairman of advertising agency DDB Worldwide. Photo / Dean Purcell
“Deborah and Martin were of the opinion, ‘look, we don’t have to sell it, we know it’s a really good house’.
“It’s in one of the most expensive streets, if not the most expensive street, in Remuera so they were prepared to sit and wait for the right buyer.”
The right buyer came along just before Christmas but if the price had not been right the house would have been rented out with several approaches having been made from people willing to pay upwards of $2000 a week unfurnished.
When the property was first listed people were nervous about tabling unconditional offers, Galbraith said.
“To be honest with you, there were so many people wanting this property right throughout the entire duration of this but because the market was like it was, and we had that terrible flooding event and everything else, there was no confidence.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Linda Galbraith: "If you want something, don’t ever think it’s going to be there forever because it’s not." Photo / Fiona Goodall
“Everybody just said ‘we can’t buy without selling and we have to do all this work before we go to the market’.”
When the SOLD sign went up, however, she received calls from four people who wanted the house but who were not in a position to buy until they had sold their own house.
One of them was “gutted” they had missed out, she said, but that was always the way.
“I mean, this is the problem – if you want something, don’t ever think it’s going to be there forever because it’s not.
“I think the message in all of this is, look, New Zealand’s economy is going through a tough time.
“Auckland, in particular, has suffered. We've suffered economic downturn, we’ve suffered flooding, we’ve suffered the consequences of government policies.
“Auckland has lost its soul to a certain extent and the people are reflecting that.”
Galbraith said so many people would exclaim, “ ‘Oh, my God, I’ve always loved this house, I really want to own it, but ...’ – there was always the but.”
The but was reflective not of the housing market so much but of the economy, she said.
29 Rahiri Road, in Mount Eden, Auckland, is on the hunt for the right buyer. It is being marketed by Galbraith. Photo / Supplied
“It had really got to its knees and you just say to people, ‘look, it’s not going to be like this forever, you’ve got to take a positive view’.”
Galbraith said even when people were offered a long settlement they were still negative about where the economy was going and this was reflected in their decision-making, but she said things were turning, at least with Chinese buyers who had an attitude of longevity.
“They see everything as an opportunity and they project that out 10 years and say ‘we’re never going to own for this money in 10 years so who cares’, whereas the Kiwis are still saying ‘what if, worst case scenario, what if something goes wrong’.
“What I say to people is you can never save the money that you would over time accumulate in an asset which is underpinned in real estate, whatever that may be.
“You just need to make a decision and you need to make it work and you have to have confidence in the decision you’ve made.”
There was “volumes and volumes” of stock on the market again probably through until October and there would be some very good opportunities, she said, “but people are going to have to be brave and make the decision”.
The woman who purchased Burwood Crescent had made it happen, Galbraith said: “She made the decision and it was within 48 hours.
“She said to me, ‘trust me to fall in love with a house that’s in one of the most expensive streets on the northern slopes’.”
The house received no negative feedback from anyone who viewed, other than it had three bedrooms rather than four and there was no pool.
A OneRoof story from last year told how the two-storey cedar house on 613sqm of land with a $4.8m CV had been treasured so much by previous owners one had bought it twice.
The O’Hallorans viewed it and purchased it the same day, Galbraith said, adding the house had a European flavour but was crafted with a lodge feel in the upmarket street.
In May last year, a five-bedroom waterfront property in Burwood Crescent sold for more than $20m.
Galbraith has another house on the market which she said could suit a long settlement.
She said the owners of 29 Rahiri Road, in Mount Eden, a five-bedroom, four-bathroom private estate, were similar to the Burwood Crescent owners in that they wanted a sale but did not have to sell and were willing to take a seven-month settlement if that was what was required.
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