- The parents of maths whizz Tristan Pang find a buyer for their Auckland home.
- Tristan, 23, is completing a PhD in environmental science at Oxford University.
- Pang family will miss Auckland, but have shifted to the UK to support Tristan.
The parents of New Zealand maths whizz Tristan Pang have sold up and are now hunting for a home in the UK.
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Ray White agent Caroline Yau found a buyer for Thomas and Elaine Pang’s house in Auckland’s Royal Oak, allowing them to move permanently to Oxford, where Tristan is completing a PhD in environmental science.
Tristan made headlines a decade ago when, at the age of 12, he enrolled at Auckland University. Two years later he was a tutor at the university and at age 17, he graduated with a degree in mathematics and physics.
He made the shift to Oxford University in 2020, with Elaine accompanying him on the trip and Thomas joining them in October.
Tristan Pang, now 23, at Oxford University in the UK. Photo / Supplied
The house at Goldstine Place, Royal Oak, is close to One Tree Hill and Cornwall Park, and sold to a local family. Photo / Supplied
They decided to sell their home on Goldstine Place so they could buy a house in Oxford.
Yau told OneRoof this week that the sale of Goldstine Place had just gone unconditional and the Pangs were now getting on with finding a home in Oxford and settling down.
“The home has sold to a local family. We had two offers, so the Pang family are very relieved. It’s a very good outcome,” Yau said, adding that more than 50 groups had looked at the four-bedroom house.
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She was unable to disclose the sale price but the property has a CV of $1.7 million.
Since arriving at Oxford, 23-year-old Tristan has completed two masters degrees – one in computational applied mathematics and the other in mathematics and computer science – and he hopes to finish his PhD by 2026.
His mum told OneRoof in November that he wanted to use his skills to help the planet. “The research is environmental science from the angle of mathematical modeling and from physics. He is very altruistic, you know, wanting to share his skills with other people. In his mind, environmental science was the thing that would have an immediate impact on people.”
She said he had an eye on the Southern Ocean and hoped one day to return to New Zealand. “He is very thankful for his New Zealand education,” she said.
The study, where a young Tristan studied for his university degrees from the age of 12. Photo / Supplied
The Pangs moved to New Zealand from the UK when Tristan was just four. They bought Elaine’s parents’ house at Goldstine Place in 2019.
Elaine told OneRoof that Tristan loved swimming every morning, so having the Onehunga pool nearby was important, as was the proximity to One Tree Hill and Cornwall Park. “He’s a very happy and healthy boy, it was a very comfortable house. We had a study and a quiet space so he could lead a balanced life,” she said.
Making the decision to sell the house was not an easy one, she told OneRoof last month. “We do not know when we will be going back to New Zealand. Because our family is so small, just the three of us, that is why we need to sell the house to buy a house here [in Oxford].”
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