Top-end buyers, unfazed by talk of market peaks or bank restrictions, are still doing $10m-plus deals for properties in Auckland’s Remuera.
But agents say buyers are increasingly unwilling to compromise, preferring to wait for the right home. No FOMO here.
Terry King, owner of of Remuera Register, told OneRoof that “middle-priced” properties in Remuera are now fetching between $4m and $6m, but at the top end of the market in the suburb, money really is no object.
“People who need to know how much a place is worth are not going to be able to afford it," he said.
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“When you have $100m, whether you pay $20m instead of $15m doesn’t matter. They all know that when they come to sell, they won’t be reselling for any less, the value is so easily sellable. The land value is set here and people know that.”
This year King and wife Diana have settled deals worth nearly $30m on three of the city’s most expensive properties: $10.1m for a grand 1920s five-bedroom, 460sqm house on a stately 1689sqm site on Remuera Road in September; $11.1m for a 1970s Frank Lloyd-Wright-style home on a 4649sqm double site on Waiata Avenue, which settled last month, and, last week, $8.4m for a home on Upland Road that will be bowled for development.
King said that the suburb’s mid-range properties have shot up for much the same reason as the rest of Auckland - very few houses to buy.
“Four or five years ago, those $4m-$6m places would have been $3m. And that’s creeping to the far end of Remuera, into Meadowbank.
“Six years ago, a property we sold for $2.45m in the Meadowbank fringe is now asking $4m. The big difference is that while there are a lot of buyers looking, they are less willing to compromise.”
The Kings are currently asking $8m for a three-storey five-bedroom house on desirable Arney Crescent, complete with the Rangitoto views.
The 20-year-old house on a 750sqm site changed hands four years ago for $4.5m but has since been completely redecorated, with a new kitchen and a redesigned and replanted garden around the pool. It is being marketed as a lock-up-and-leave to a family or downsizers.
A considerably refurbished house on Arney Crescent, Remuera, is asking $8m, $3.5m more than it sold for four years ago. Photo / Supplied
The Kings, who recently teamed up with Ray White Remuera, also have on their books a Historic Places Trust category 1 listed house, ‘Stoneways’ designed in 1926 by the renowned William Gummer of renowned Architects Gummer and Ford. The firm’s work included the Auckland railway station, Remuera library and Queen Street’s Dilworth building.
Over the past four years, the three-bedroom Mountain Road, Epsom 427sqm mansion, one of only 14 residences designed by Gummer, has been significantly upgraded with a new kitchen and butler's pantry, hotel-style principal bedroom suite but King said buyers had the “opportunity to finish this rebirth of an architectural icon” which sits on an enviable 1211sqm site opposite Auckland Grammar school.
King noted that as banks toughen up on lending criteria, with bridging finance rarely available, there are more sales being inked conditional on buyers selling their old house.
“A year ago, there would be at least seven bidders. Now there will be only one buyer and you really have to help them through the process, the agent has to be really alert and listen to what people are saying.
“I’ve just spent three days sorting things out for one property, and that can be the difference between someone buying and not buying.”
Buyers are firm about the property’s position, style and finish meeting their brief, with many now wary of buying a place that needs renovating because of the time, cost, and well-reported complications with supply chain.
“If it takes three years, the kids have almost finished college. They want what they want now and will pay big money for that or they’d rather wait for the right property.”
The sale of a Frank Lloyd Wright-style property on Waiata Avenue, Remuera, settled last month for $11.1m. Photo / Supplied
And the number one criterion for a $20m-plus property?
“The view. In the old days the grandeur, the size of the gardens and tennis court mattered because back then, there were views everywhere. Now, if there’s no view, there has to be something really special to attract those buyers – this generation will put large amounts of money into outdoor living and facilities.”
King, who has other big deals in the works, said that while buyers with off-shore wealth were keen to buy, would-be vendors of the big properties were struggling to let the grand houses go, taking years to decide on a downsize to an apartment or a smaller house.
