A mansion that once belonged to Team New Zealand chief Grant Dalton has been sold for $19.75 million after more than a year on the market.
The house on Victoria Avenue, in Auckland's Remuera, had been listed with an asking price of $22.5m, but while the sale price is below expectations it is still one of the highest this year.
The former embassy was put up for sale in September last year by rich-lister property developer Culum Manson and his wife Kirstin after they decided to quit Auckland and move permanently to their country estate.
The Mansons bought the five-bedroom house from Dalton in 2018 for $16.55m and immediately engaged noted Kiwi architect Christian Anderson to oversee a complete makeover.
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The new owner gets a near-900sqm home with a tennis court, heated pool, full gym and dance floor.
Luxury real estate agent Michael Boulgaris, who sold the home to Mansons in 2018, brokered the $19.75m deal earlier this month.
He told the New Zealand Herald that while he had initially been confident of getting Mansons their $22.5m, the Auckland lockdown had "wiped out the luxury market".
"It was my suggestion to list for $22.5m because anyone with $10m to $20m is naturally going to try to negotiate, so the sale price was an absolute win-win for all parties," he said.
The house was renovated from top to bottom by Kiwi architect Christian Anderson. Photo / Supplied
Boulgaris told the Herald that a local family with two young children had bought the house.
The high-profile agent, who was left partially paralysed after a horse-riding accident in August, has made several high-profile deals in Remuera this year, including $8.7m for a home on Ranui Road and $8.5m for a house on Arney Road.
The $19.75m for the Mansons' house on Victoria Avenue is the third highest known sale this year. The top two sales - $23.5m for a huge waterfront property on Marine Parade, in Herne Bay, and $22m for a luxury home on nearby Argyle Street - were brokered by Graham and Ollie Wall, of Wall Real Estate.
Luxury agent Michael Boulgaris brokered the deal. Photo / Ted Baghurst
Culum Manson bought the Remuera house from Grant Dalton. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Graham Wall told OneRoof last month that while the $20m-plus market doesn’t feature a lot of sales he had been surprised at just how much money was out there.
“It is amazing - there's so much new wealth in New Zealand that we didn't even know about.”
Covid, he said, had reminded people in the high-value market of their mortality. “I think a lot of people just think, ‘You know, I deserve more.’ They ring up asking for a view of the water or a bigger and better house.”
OneRoof analysis of all settled sales in the year to November 15 found that 11 properties fetched between $10m and $22m – and a further 74 properties fetched between $5m and $10m, with the top 25 settled sales selling for a total of $270m-plus.
