- A luxury lodge in Lake Tarawera sold for $10 million, setting a Rotorua house price record.
- The property features direct lake access, a jetty, tennis court, and waterfall.
- Strong demand exists for lawn-to-lake properties, say agents.
A luxury lodge overlooking Waitangi Bay, in Lake Tarawera, has smashed Rotorua's house price record.
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The five-bedroom retreat, which sits on 4.51ha on Spencer Road, sold for $10 million in July last year, OneRoof can reveal.
A local couple fought off interested buyers from China, America, and Auckland to secure the lodge.
The sale price exceeds the $7m a luxury home on Okere Road, in Okere Falls, fetched in 2023.
And it's not the only big sale in the area, with OneRoof able to reveal that a commercial lodge that once hosted the Queen sold for nearly $14m.
The lodge at Waitangi Bay, Lake Tarawera, ticked all the boxes for the buyers. Photo / Supplied
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Shona Duncan, who sold the Spencer Road property, said she knew the local buyers from previous transactions.
Waitangi Lodge was one of the largest lake-front landholdings in the area and had everything they wanted.
“There’s always a lot to be said about never underestimating your hometown,” she said.
“It’s just got tick after tick after tick. It’s unique,” she said, adding that the buyers “absolutely love” the property.
The property has direct lake access, a jetty and boat shed, an all-weather tennis court, a cascading waterfall and a clear stream with spawning rainbow trout.
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Even the boatshed was stunning, Duncan said. “I don’t think there’s another one like it in the country."
The owners also purchased a neighbouring section to ensure they had privacy.
Duncan said there was strong demand for lawn-to-lake properties, especially ones with jetties or boatsheds. “They are rare like hens’ teeth and very sought after,” she said. “There’s just not enough of them.”
Another lawn-to-lake property on Spencer Road sold in September for $2.6m after only one week on the market. Duncan said this was a testament to how popular those properties with direct lake or jetty access were.
171 Tumoana Road, on Lake Rotoiti, goes to auction on February 11. Photo / Supplied
567 Spencer Road, on Lake Tarawera, has an asking price of $1.45m. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys Rotorua branch manager Beth Millard said lakefront properties were tightly held.
“People generally own them for a long time and it’s a generational family change that will prompt a sale,” she said.
“If we had absolute lawn-to-lake properties to sell we would turn those over in a heartbeat and for good money,” she said.
Millard has just listed a three-bedroom, two-bathroom property at 171 Tumoana Road, in Lake Rotoiti, and was expecting a lot of interest because it was the only absolute lawn-to-lake property she was currently aware of that was for sale on Lake Rotoiti.
Queen Elizabeth stayed at Moose Lodge, in Lake Rotoiti, in 1954. The property sold for $13.9m last year. Photo / Supplied
“That is going to tell us exactly where that lawn to lake market is because there’s nothing for sale currently.”
Meanwhile her colleague Jenny Donne is selling a freehold lakefront section at 567 Spencer Road, in Lake Tarawera, that has lake access and an asking price of $1.45m.
Millard said the main buyers continued to be people from Mount Maunganui and Tauranga looking for holiday homes. However, she added that the State Highway 30 side of Lake Rotoiti still attracted Gisborne buyers.
Meanwhile, OneRoof sales data shows a 38.43ha property on the shores of Lake Rotoiti sold in April last year for $13.9m following the transaction's approval by the Overseas Investment Office.
The OIO decision shows Moose Lodge was bought by Cogent Corporation, which is owned by 16 Indonesian nationals who already operate short-term accommodation in New Zealand.
Moose Lodge was once a popular hideaway for dignitaries and celebrities, including the Queen and Prince Phillip who relaxed there after their 1954 tour of New Zealand.
It had been closed for a year before it changed hands and had not been fully operational since 2005. The new owners plan to refurbish the property and reopen it to the public, the OIO decision said.
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