A humble two-bedroom house in Hamilton trumped mansions and celebrity-owned stunners to take out the most-viewed listing spot on OneRoof this year.
While affordable homes were among those attracting plenty of eyeballs, fancy houses still got their fair share of views, especially those being sold by names Kiwis will recognise – like fashion icon Dame Trelise Cooper and former Tux Wonder Dog host Mark Leishman, both of whose properties featured in the top 10.
An analysis of searches on OneRoof for 2024 shows price, location, and stock numbers were the biggest influencing factors in the market.
The suburbs with the most searches tended to have good amenities and the largest range of “affordable” homes.
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Of the top 10 most-viewed listings, eight were in Auckland – but many homes in the top 100 were beach homes in holiday destinations like Coromandel.
The median search price for those looking in Auckland was just under $1m, with homes in Papatoetoe, New Lynn, and Mount Wellington popular with house hunters.
Attractively priced suburbs dominated buyer searches in Canterbury, Wellington, and Waikato.
Exceptions included the wealthy enclaves of Remuera, Mount Maunganui, Queenstown, and Flagstaff in Hamilton, which all featured highly in buyer searches and showed the strength of established blue-chip suburbs.
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NZ's MOST POPULAR HOMES OF 2024
No.1 | 95 Pukete Road, Pukete, Hamilton
No.1 is a spacious 100sqm two-bedroom house with timber floors in Pukete, north of Hamilton’s CBD. It was still on the market at the time of writing, with listing agent Christine Willis, from Harcourts, saying inquiry had been consistent, especially among the first-home buyer market. “It would probably be the best two-bedroom weatherboard property on the market across Hamilton,” she said.
A two-bedroom home at 95 Pukete Road, in Pukete, Hamilton, has got buyers excited and is still available for sale with Harcourts agents Christine Willis and Ray Mitchell. Photo / Supplied
Inside 95 Pukete Road. The property has a 2021 RV of $640,000 and is for by negotiation. Photo / Supplied
“Pukete is near The Base [shopping centre] and the expressway.”
There had been offers on the property but not at the right level, Willis said, and while she could not reveal what that level was, OneRoof records show the 2021 RV is $640,000.
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No.2 | The Crossing, Waiheke Island
The next most-viewed listing is at the other end of the price spectrum: the vineyard home of broadcaster John Hawkesby, on Waiheke Island. The property, which overlooks Church Bay, sold for $12m in April, more than double its 2021 CV and the island’s highest sale for the year at the time of writing.
John Hawesby's Waiheke home, The Crossing, sold in April for $12m, with the former broadcaster's son-in-law and grandson - Ray White's Richard Lyne and Jackson Hawkesby-Lyne - sealing the deal. Photo / Supplied
Hawkesby had made Waiheke Island his home for more than 20 years. Photo / Michael Craig
Hawkesby said in June that the property was bought by the first people to inspect it: “We wanted the people who bought it to love it like we have and we’re over the moon it’s happened that way.”
Grandson Jackson Hawkesby-Lyne, of Ray White, who marketed the home with his father Richard Lyne, said: “I had a real sense of responsibility to get this right for my grandparents.”
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No.3 | Ford Road, Hikurangi Rd2, Whangarei
OneRoof’s third most-viewed property was probably the most controversial listing of the year.
An abandoned school in Hikurangi, complete with an empty swimming pool, was put up for sale but ultimately withdrawn after being occupied by Ngati Hau.
A OneRoof story from June said the hapu had wanted the Crown to buy the property but were declined. They moved into the site at the end of March, vowing to stay there until there was a resolution.
A former school at Ford Road, in Whangarei, attracted a lot of eyeballs before the listing was withdrawn in June. Ray White's Alex Smits was the agent. Photo / Supplied
Listing agent Alex Smits, from Ray White, told OneRoof that as far as he was aware, the hapu no longer occupied the building, although he was unsure if any progress had been made between Ngati Hau and the Crown.
He said there had been plenty of interest in the property when it was first listed, with around 20 or more people looking at submitting a tender, including people wanting to use the site as an animal rescue and buyers looking at communal living.
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No.4 | 301/20 Devore Street, St Heliers, Auckland
Another popular celebrity home was the barely lived-in apartment of fashion icon Dame Trelise Cooper. At the time of writing, the third-floor pad in the Sonata building on Devore Street, in Auckland’s St Heliers, was still on the market, having passed in at auction in May.
Dame Trelise and husband Jack bought the apartment off the plan in late 2022 for $10.5m but wanted to spend more time overseas with their family.
Dame Trelise Cooper's apartment at 301/20 Devore Street, in St Heliers, Auckland, is still up for grabs, with Aaron Foss, Barfoot & Thompson, the listing agent. Photo / Supplied
Dame Trelise, shown here in 2019 at her bi-annual fashion show at Soul Bar on Auckland’s waterfront, told OneRoof she plans to spend more time overseas. Photo / Norrie Montgomery
Listing agent Aaron Foss, from Barfoot & Thompson, said his vendors were looking for buyers with around $8m to spend, adding that while he had received offers, deals at that level could sometimes be complicated to get across the line.
His marketing describes “breath-taking expansive views” of Rangitoto Island and the sparkling Waitemata Harbour.
Buyers of the property, which featured a beautifully crafted bespoke interior, would be buying Dame Trelise’s style and taste, he told OneRoof.
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No.5 | Wimbledon Way, Remuera, Auckland
A lower-key property in an upmarket suburb took out the fifth most-viewed slot. An “affordable” three-bedroom house in Wimbledon Way sold fast with the turnout such that Ray White agent Ben Ryken told OneRoof in July that FOMO (fear of missing out) was on its way back into the housing market.
Ray White agent Ben Ryken got $959,000 for this home on Wimbledon Way, in Remuera, Auckland. Photo / Supplied
The property had been initially marketed for around $1.1m with no takers but when Ryken relaunched it with a declared reserve of $950,000 the new tactic resulted in a sale to first-home buyers within days for under $1m.
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No.6 | King Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland
A house being sold by two drag queens who had appeared on RuPaul Drag Race Down Under caught the eye of plenty of searchers this year.
Anita Wigl’it and Ivanna Drink, aka Nick Hall and Shameel Kennedy, sold their villa in Auckland’s Grey Lynn for an undisclosed sum north of the property’s $1.575m CV.
Ryan Teece and Reuben Payn, of Whitefox, sold this renovated villa on King Street, in Grey Lynn, Auckland, in July for an undisclosed amount. The villa belonged to RuPaul stars Ivana Drink and Anita Wiglit. Photo / Supplied
Drink and Wiglit in full costume. Their home was hugely popular with buyers. Photo / Supplied
The pair put the three-bedroom villa on the market after their marriage broke up last year, with Hall telling OneRoof they had poured their heart into the house.
The former couple had transformed the villa inside and out and had turned their shed into a large wardrobe for their costumes, wigs and shoes.
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No.7 | 27 Marine Parade, Herne Bay, Auckland
Buyers were also drawn to the waterfront mansion at 27 Marine Parade, in Auckland’s Herne Bay, although the price tag of $40 million-plus may have meant the majority of views were based on wishful thinking.
The renovated luxury property is owned by Kiwi property developer Kurt Gibbons and his wife Makere, and was still on the market at the time of writing.
Wall Real Estate kept the listing copy short and sweet: “Just completed Fearon Hay transformation of a grand 900-metre solid concrete villa spanning across a 2688-metre double section on Herne Bay’s most prestigious street.”
27 Marine Parade, in Herne Bay, Auckland, is aiming to break NZ house price records. It is on the market with Graham and Ollie Wall, of Wall Real Estate. Photo / Supplied
The house has five bedrooms, a guest house, 6.5 bathrooms, a tennis court and pavilion, gym, pool, wine cellar, extensive garaging, and complete privacy.
Gibbons would not reveal the cost of the build, which included earthworks on the cliff front to make a level surface for a tennis court, but he told OneRoof earlier this year it was well over the $8m he had initially planned to spend. “These [builds] cost a fortune. I’m in the industry and even I couldn’t stick to budget.”
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No.8 | 7 Rosemount Road, Matakana
Also still for sale at the time of writing was the lifestyle home of a celebrity canine-owner.
Mark Leishman, star of the 1990s TV hit Tux Wonder Dogs, put his 1.1ha property in Matakana on the market after the death of much-loved labradors Mickey and Buddy last year.
The labs came after the 2000 death of Dexter, the most famous of the Tux Wonder Dogs.
Mark Leishman and Jo Raymond's lifestyle home at 7 Rosemount Road, in Matakana, Auckland. It is still on the market for sale with Bayleys agent Kellie Bissett. Photo / Supplied
Leishman and Raymond with their dog Mickey just before he passed last year. Photo / Supplied
Leishman, whose show outranked Oprah and Mr Bean in its day, bought the house with his wife Jo Raymond after Covid broke out, telling OneRoof the death of the dogs had been a blow.
“It’s the end of quite an era really. I’ve had dogs for 42 years. There was never a day where we didn’t have a dog in the house.”
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No.9 | Oceanbeach Road, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga
A vintage 1960s brick and tile beachfront bach with a big price tag put a Mount Maunganui property, in Tauranga, into the top 10 most-viewed listings.
The property fetched well under its $9.67m CV, selling for $5.6m, but was one of the last of the old-school beach homes along Oceanbeach Road and Marine Parade, where many such properties are being renovated, rebuilt, or redeveloped.
A vintage bach on Oceanbeach Road, in Mount Maunganui, Tauranga, sold in February for $5.6m. The listing agent was Caleb Paterson, of Paterson Luxury. Photo / Supplied
Agent Caleb Paterson, of Telos Group, took on the listing after other agents had had it for a while, telling OneRoof the buyers were expats from Sydney who were originally from the area and planned on renovating and using the house as their family bach.
Interest had been strong from developers, but the site had some considerations, which limited the usable land area for building, Paterson said.
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No.10 | Beach Road, Waiake, Auckland
No.10 on the list is a house that was offered up for sale with a free Tesla. While that may have accounted for some of the views, the eventual buyers passed on the flash car.
This family home on Beach Road, in Waiake, Auckland, sold in May for $2.37m. The vendors were willing to throw in a Tesla and all their furniture to get a deal. The listing agents were Shane Coote and Michelle Campbell, from Ray White. Photo / Supplied
The vendors had gone to market declaring that they were prepared to sell everything before heading overseas.
While the Tesla had helped the property stand out from the crowd, Ray White agent Shane Coote told OneRoof the clincher was that the house was “pretty damn cool”. OneRoof records show the sale was made in May for $2.37m.
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In Wellington, the most-viewed listing was still on the market at the time of writing. The Arts and Crafts home in Brougham Street was bought for $2.5m in 2017 and lovingly restored by designer Diana Potter and property developer Richard Burrell, who were looking for offers over $5.995m.
Wellington's most popular is a historic home at 111 Brougham Street, in Mount Victoria. It is listed with Tommy’s agent Phil Mears. Photo / Supplied
The house was built in the 1900s by architect Samuel Hurst Seager and over the years went through various transformations, including being split into flats and then converted into a support centre for people with disabilities.
The most-viewed listing in Canterbury was an historic mansion which sold for $1m in September to an expat New Zealander after many months on the market.
Canterbury's most popular: A 150-year-old manor near Timaru got lost of attention before selling for $1m to an expat. Photo / Supplied
OneRoof wrote about the Pleasant Point listing in Timaru in July, describing how builder Rory Foley had transformed a cold, neglected and rodent-infested house into a warm, modern home.
The house had a rich history – it was built by the founding father of Fendalton, a pricey Christchurch suburb – but it was a little owl nicknamed “Mr Hoot”, who popped in through the cat flap and sat next to Foley on the sofa one night, which saw the property become a viral hit.
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