High prices and a shortage of properties on Remuera’s posh northern slopes have prompted buyers to take a closer look at homes in a part of the Auckland suburb they would have previously overlooked, agents have told OneRoof.
On the northern side of Remuera Road, prices on the big streets with the huge estates can top $20 million – last year’s record price was $29m – with many selling for well over $10m. A mansion for sale on Victoria Avenue is expected to fetch well over $20m, while two of the country’s three top prices were for homes on northern Remuera Road for more than $25m. The large estates have northern sun, covetable views across the valleys to the harbour and sprawling estates – and premium prices.
Bayleys agent David Rainbow said that the southern slopes appealed to young families who wanted to get into Remuera and knew northern slopes properties were more expensive.
“For example, a really good house on Omahu Road would be $3m, you’d be paying a million dollars more on the northern slopes. I’d say you’d get a 30% discount going south,” he said.
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“But you’re getting the same capital gain percentage, they’re becoming more desirable because of proximity to schools, nice tree-lined streets and lovely old villas. All of a sudden, it’s becoming more popular, particularly to people coming back over from Herne Bay and Westmere who were sick of the drive to private schools.”
Bayleys colleague Lorraine Young said that south of Remuera Road had come into its own because properties there tend be big and on nice and level sections of 800 to 1000sqm. "They are pretty streets. The kids can walk to private schools, you don’t have to face that traffic gridlock,” she said.
A 10-bedroom mansion on Remuera's Market Road with an RV of $7.3m is being sold as a large family home or boutique accommodation. Photo / Supplied
Demand, she said, had definitely picked up for streets on the southern side of Remuera Road towards Great South Road, including Clonbern, Armadale, Omahu and Dromorne roads, as well as Platina Street.
Ray White agent Steve Koerber, who has specialised in Remuera for the past 24 years (he calculates he's sold 55 properties on Armadale Road alone), said that streets on the southern side of Remuera Road were more affordable than the more desirable northern slopes, but there are variations by street.
“Recently we sold a bungalow on Armadale Road for $3.8m and a house on Ohinerau Street for $4.11m. On the northern side, they’d be at least in the high $4m. But then we sold a house on Bell Road [on the northern slopes] for $3.95m, so every house is different,” he said.
He pointed to the four-bedroom villa on 18 Ohinerau Street that he is bringing to auction July 6 as typical of an entry-level property for Remuera: well presented, with a pool and within walking distance of the village. It has a ratings valuation of $3.175m.
A four-bedroom villa on Ohinerau Street Road has a ratings valuation of $3.175m. Photo / Supplied
OneRoof data shows that Dromorne Road, which runs between Market and Armadale roads, has the most expensive properties on this side: a handful of homes on the street have council ratings valuations of well over $7m, and for a couple of large estates CVs are more than $11m.
Recent top prices in the southern side include $10m for nearly new six-bedroom house on 1201sqm site off Market Road at the end of last year, while the fully renovated property on 1399sqm on Saint Vincent Avenue, formerly known as Cotter House, changed hands in May last year for $8m. And as the market was peaking in November 2020, a developer paid $8.6m for a grand four-bedroom mansion with a tennis court on a 2565sqm site on St Vincent Avenue – more than $1 million above its CV.
Koerber said a 1283sqm property on Armadale Road that sold to a developer last year for $6.75m has just settled. The site, zoned for suburban development, has a current CV of $6.3m.
“There are a couple of houses just quietly on the market that could sell tomorrow for $10m, and some on Dromorne you’d be looking at more than $5m or $6m."
A six-bedroom villa on St Vincent Avenue is being marketed as a landbank for future development. Photo / Supplied
Koerber and his wife Nila set the record for Platina Street when a three-bedroom character bungalow they marketed fetched $4.91m. The smart house on a flat site, with potential to add a pool, was the sort of property families were looking for when they headed south across Remuera Road, Koerber said.
“When we appraised this for $4.5m to $5m, we thought we were being ambitious,” Koerber told OneRoof.
“There’s just that lack of supply, but there’s a segment who would only buy northern. We find if buyers have grown up on those northern slopes, gone to school there, their parents will say ‘don’t buy that side’.
“The capital gains are always better on the northern slopes,” he said.
Young said a recent property she sold on Dromorne Road had nine offers. While she couldn’t disclose the price, she said it was on par with a similar house and land size on the northern slopes. She did point out that slowing sales and shortage of stock in the $3m to $5m price range may start to show in the figures.
Ray White agent Jayne Kiely, who with Ricky Cave marketed a property on Clonbern Road that achieved a record price under the hammer, said southern slopes buyers were very “property specific.”
“Northern slopes had been the preferred location, but the prices have gone up accordingly. [In the southern side] people are seeing bang for the buck. The same house on the northern slopes, depending on the size, could go for $1.5m or $2m more,” she said.
However, the agent is seeing southern slopes properties with full sites and attractive renovations are pulling the buyers.
“They’re still double Grammar, the same amazing views, close to the village.”
One agent says Remuera buyers can look as far south as Onehunga to find big villa estates, such as this one on Symonds Street. Photo / Supplied
For Remuera buyers who want to head even further south for more bang for their buck, New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Paul Sissons is promoting Onehunga.
“You could call it Remuera South,” he said, only half-joking.
“I’ve got a grand estate on three-quarters of an acre [3176sqm], historic villa completely restored by heritage architects Salmond Reed, gardens by Xanthe White on Symonds Street that’s asking $5.75m.
“If this was in Remuera, it would be $15m. Five years ago Onehunga was ignored, now you’re close to the airport, train to Kings, just on the edge of One Tree Hill, it’s a stunning location.”
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