A large villa on one of New Zealand’s wealthiest streets has sold for just under $12 million, OneRoof can reveal.
Ray White Epsom agent Richard Thode, who brokered the deal, said the buyer had been searching for some time before landing on the five-bedroom, two-storey home on Victoria Avenue, in Remuera.
“The buyer had been looking at everything on the market for probably a year,” he told OneRoof. “He loved the privacy, the quality of the finish.”
The $11.9m sale price is Remuera’s second highest so far this year, with a mansion on neighbouring Orakei Road selling under the hammer last week for $12.8m.
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However, it well above the property’s $9.9m CV and $2.4m more than what the property last sold for in 2019.
Thode, who marketed the Victoria Avenue villa with colleague Rae Zhang (it was also listed with Barfoot & Thompson agents Leila and David MacDonald), said he had about 10 groups of buyers through the house with $10m-plus to spend.
Thode said the property, which has a distinctive turret, boasted 1598sqm of hedged grounds and came with a new saltwater swimming pool.
The vendors had earlier told OneRoof they had enlisted an architect, interior designer and landscaper to make more improvements to the property, which also featured a wine cellar, engineered oak floors and a hotel-style ensuite bathroom.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom villa on Victoria Avenue, Remuera, attracted a good number of buyers with over $10m to spend. Photo / Supplied
The villa had been extensively refurbished by earlier owners, with further updates since it last sold at the end of 2019 for $9.5m. Photo / Supplied
Thode said there was a “significant number of buyers looking to purchase” at the upper end of the market. “This was a beautiful home and people will pay the right money.”
Thode told OneRoof that his team had done $32m in sales in February, with prices ranging from $1.2m to $11.9m.
He highlighted the sale of a renovated villa in Mount St John Avenue, in Epsom, as another example of what buyers were looking for at the upper end of the market. The six-bedroom, four-bathroom house on a 921sqm site went for $5.7m after some 140 groups of buyers viewed it.
Thode said the full rebuild of the house, right down to double-glazing, had only been completed last year. “It was fully rebuilt, but more importantly, it had the outhouse with another living space, two bedrooms, bathroom and a kitchen, and a lot of people are looking for that,” he said.
The upper end of the New Zealand housing market has seen a near-40% spike in new listings. In Remuera alone, there are 38 residential properties for sale with search prices of $5m and above.
A six-bedroom villa on Mount St John Avenue, Epsom, sold for $5.7m. Photo / Supplied
A villa at 47 Market Road, Remuera, with a $9.8m CV will be sold by set sale ending March 8. Photo / Supplied
Thode said that in the current market where buyers have a choice given the large number of listings, agents have to “treat buyers with full respect and put your arms around them”.
“If the property does tick all the boxes, they’ll buy it,” Thode said, pointing to a stately home at 47 Market Road, in Remuera, which he and Zhang are selling by set sale closing at the end of this week.
He said the six-bedroom 1940s house on a rare 2714sqm section with a pool and a tennis court was attracting good buyers and would likely sell. It has a CV of $9.8m, a pool, tennis court and even a bespoke chicken coop known as Cluckingham Palace.
“It’s had really good interest. There are some big houses on the market, some big sales,” he said.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Remuera
