- The $9.3m sale of a four-bedroom bach on Taumata Road set a new record for Omaha.
- The property, designed by Herbst Architects, features beach access, courtyards, and an Italian kitchen.
- Agent Di Balich noted strong demand but limited stock, with $10m sales still within reach.
The recent $9.3 million sale of a trophy home is a new record for the wealthy beach town of Omaha.
Start your property search
The off-market deal for the four-bedroom bach on Taumata Road was inked at the end of last year but can now be made public.
Listing agent Di Balich, from Precision Real Estate, told OneRoof the house was a standout property in a street full of luxury holiday homes.
Designed by Herbst Architects, the house sits on a 1221sqm beachfront site and comes with central covered courtyards, an outdoor fireplace, a private spa, and an Italian kitchen.
The four-bedroom Taumata Road property was designed by Herbst Architects. Photo / Supplied
The buyers wanted somewhere close to the beach. Photo / Supplied
The property, which has an RV of $7.5m, first hit the market in December 2022 with a different agency. It was taken off the open market in 2023, but the vendor had not given up on finding a buyer.
Balich was unable to disclose much about the deal beyond the sale price, but did say there was a lot of money available for the right property in the town.
The buyers were new to Omaha, and had a shopping list of requirements that few properties could meet. “They wanted beach front, as close to the water as possible,” she said.
“They wanted to be able to wake up in the morning, see their grandchildren jump out of the bunks and straight into the sea.”
Discover more:
- Precious Fernside! Lord of the Rings mansion sells for almost $4m
- Mortgage rates: Bigger cuts to come, but experts torpedo hopes of 3% fix
- Bachelor NZ’s Art and Matilda Green selling the villa they bought mid-flight
She added: “They’re at the stage where they were able to invest in the area, and their children had been encouraging them to get a family holiday place for the grandkids.”
The $9.3m price beats the town’s previous record holder by $200,000 but is still short of the magic $10m milestone many agents felt Omaha would pass during the Covid boom.
Balich said $10m was still within reach for some Omaha homeowners. “There are buyers around who would pay $10m for the right property. But what’s stopping them is the lack of stock,” she told OneRoof.
“The people who own these $10m properties don’t want to sell. This is only the third one on Taumata to sell in the last three years.
“It’s considered the best street because it is closest to the beach. In other parts of Omaha, the reserves come into play, and you don’t have direct access.”
Bayleys agent Heather Walton-Bycroft sold this award-winning bach on Taumata Road in less than two weeks. Photo / Supplied
Balich’s Taumata Road house is next to two adjoining baches that were snapped up at the end of 2023 for more than $11m. Balich said multimillion-dollar renovations were underway to turn the two homes into one family compound with direct access to the beach.
“There’s some serious money being spent on Taumata Road. It is Omaha’s premier beachfront spot," she said, adding that homeowners spent a lot of money upgrading their homes.
“For a while there after Covid, there were a lot of builders’ skips on the street. People want to buy more modern houses, properties that are near-new or have these renovations.”
Balich said the $9.3m Taumata Road deal was one of several she had inked over the summer. “I just sold one last week at Inanga Lane for $5.615m. The buyers are there. What I’m trying to do is promote the coast and Matakana as a magical destination. You’d be surprised how many people have heard about us but have never bothered to take a look.”
One was for a four-bedroom house on Tuatua Lane, the other was for a four-bedroom house on Taumata Road. The latter, a Malcolm Taylor-designed home which won an NZIA award in 2006, was snapped up after just nine days on the market.
A waterfront lifestyle block on Omaha Flats Road recently sold for over $5m. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Heather Walton has also had a busy summer. She told OneRoof she had also closed two deals this month worth $10m.
Walton said that selling high-end houses in the beach town usually meant helping buyers get their ducks in a row to sell a city house or another Omaha property.
“It takes a lot of negotiation, and a deeper understanding of people’s circumstances. People are seriously looking, but you just have to make everything align,” she said, adding that both buyers had been looking for some time for the right property to come up.
Balich said her Taumata Road vendor was moving from Omaha to a bigger lifestyle property in the Matakana area. “People are looking for a nice piece of land, by the water, they can build on,” she said.
Earlier this month, Bayleys agents Kellie Bissett and John Greenwood inked a $5m-plus deal for just such a place, a two-hectare waterfront property on Omaha Flats Road, between Omaha and Point Wells.
The property, which had an RV of $3.155m, was pitched as an opportunity for a rural retreat, with over 125m of waterfront and allowances for a main house, guest house and further amenities and outbuildings.
“The tender attracted excellent interest. The purchaser has deep roots in the area and intends to create a stunning residence on this exceptional waterfront property,” Bissett said.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Omaha
