- A Queenstown mansion sold for $45.5 million, setting a new property record.
- Agents say the sale highlights Queenstown's strong market and a potential for bigger sales.
- There's increasing interest from international buyers, with calls to reconsider the foreign buyer ban.
Top real estate agents and property commentators have reacted to OneRoof's news that a Queenstown mansion has sold for $45.5 million.
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The price paid for Chantecler, a 19ha estate on Lower Shotover Road, is a record for New Zealand, and overtakes the $38.5m paid in 2013 for the former Hotchin mansion on Huriaro Place, in Auckland’s Orakei.
The sale was completed back in 2023, but agents believe it will have an impact on today's market.
Walker & Co founder Hamish Walker, who brokered the deal, said it showed the strength of the Queenstown property market.
Chantecler, on Lower Shotover Road, in Queenstown-Lakes, sold in 2023 for $45.5 million. Photo / James Allan
"It's a safe place to invest your money, especially when economies around New Zealand and the globe are struggling. I see it as a flight to quality."
He added: "We also have a limited amount of land supply [in Queenstown] with mountains putting a cap on the [amount of] land available to develop."
Walker told OneRoof that it was only a matter of time before the record was beaten. "I have plenty of Americans on the books looking to invest here when the foreign buyer ban is reversed."
Bayleys agent Gary Wallace, who deals in high-end real estate in Auckland, said $45.5m was "an extraordinary sale price".
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"It just shows that Queenstown Lakes is the hottest area in New Zealand, and with the amount of development there you’re seeing amazing development opportunity. It is quite the vote of confidence.
"Would there be a home like this in Auckland? There are a few well-known properties that could get that. Look at Graham Hart’s property [on Riddell Road, in Glendowie]. What price would you put on that?"
"A brand new place going up in Orakei would cost $25m for the building alone, so who knows what properties like that would get. We’ve seen traditional houses over 25 years old go for over $20m."
He added: "There are rumours, but if they did change the rules on foreign buyers, it would have a positive effect."
New Zealand Sotheby's International Realty agent Paul Sissons, who got $21.84m for a mansion on Auckland's Paritai Drive last year and is selling equally stunning one on Remuera Road, said he had noticed an upswing in enquiries at the top end of the market.
The Italian-style mansion on Paritai Drive, in Auckland’s Orakei, sold for $21.84m last year. Photo / Supplied
Contender for $20m-plus: 298 Remuera Road, in Auckland's Remuera. Photo / Supplied
The foreign buyer ban and confusion around New Zealand's investment rules were stymying sales.
"We’re getting strong enquiry from our marketing from both local and international buyers. I’ve been working with an American couple who are moving to New Zealand for work. They found us through the Sotheby’s network and are attracted to what we have," he told OneRoof.
"I’ve got a client here from Europe in the investor category. He has to wait 180 days for residency. Meanwhile, he’s paying $6000 to $7000 a week to rent, waiting for the time to tick over so he can buy.
"These people are big stuff. Some of them are ready to spend $20m to $30m on a house. They’re moving to New Zealand, creating jobs and businesses and helping the economy. One guy I know has bought three cars so far, and they’re not second-hand Toyota Corollas. They’re here with their family, the kids are in school, the whole nine yards.
"They've got a lot of money invested and this is the best we can do?
These people have been buying art and jewellery at Sotheby’s New York or London and for all the best reasons in the world, they now want to come to New Zealand. We've got to have a change."
Auckland's Herne Bay is home to some of the country's most expensive homes. Photo / Chris Tarpey
Like Wallace, Sissons pointed to several homes in his patch that could get $45m: "The Hart property in Glendowie, Kurt Gibbons' house in Marine Parade, Herne Bay. I know there are other vendors who would want $40m plus for their properties, but they fly under the radar."
Ollie Wall, who has several high-end properties on the market, including a $20m-plus mansion on Ronaki Road, in Mission Bay, said he expected to see $45m in Auckland very soon.
"There are three properties for sale off-market that could be bought for that. These places are marketed to everybody, local and international, but we’re seeing a whole lot of Americans at the moment. Word seems to have travelled about the foreign investment [rules], so they are coming.
"Not the bunker types, it’s people who come for the fresh air and empty spaces, a combination of things. A lot are waiting in the wings."
CoreLogic NZ head of research said Chantecler was a rare find. "You don’t see that sort of thing come up very often at all - a very beautiful property and a development opportunity," he told OneRoof.
He said New Zealand didn't have the same depth of high-end stock that other countries did. In Australia, there are lots of properties that sell for tens of millions of dollars – and that’s just the homes, not properties with development potential.
However, Auckland and Queenstown do have international profile. "With the changes to the golden visa to get people to invest in businesses, the conversation turns straight away to 'How can you invest in a business here if you can’t buy a house? Can we change the rules?'
"Maybe we need to look at certain luxury levels to allow this."
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