The Auckland mansion once owned by former Prime Minister Sir John Key sold for $16.3 million in November, OneRoof can reveal.
The seven-bedroom mansion on Saint Stephens Avenue, in Parnell, made a surprise re-appearance on the open market in August after a private deal with a New Zealand-based buyer collapsed.
The property, which the Key family sold in 2017 for $23.5m, was listed with Suburban Realty sales agent Yi Wei Tang.
The agent confirmed the sale to OneRoof at the end of last year but the sale price has only just been made public. The agent told OneRoof in November that the deal was confidential.
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The Saint Stephens Avenue mansion was listed after a private deal with a New Zealand-based buyer fell through. The buyer, Tang said, did not have enough funds to settle on the property.
The sprawling home, which has a pool and spa and a 2021 CV of $22m, had been rented out. Tang said that contrary to media reports, the house was looking “beautiful” and had not been neglected.
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The listing on OneRoof highlighted the property’s connection to Sir John.
Under the headline “Former Prime Minister's Mansion”, the marketing material stated: “While he [Sir John] and his family lived in this exclusive city avenue a short stroll to Parnell village, their modern stately mansion hosted politicians, international states people and even royalty - in sumptuous style.”
Even five years after Sir John sold the property to Lianzhong Chen, the house still holds the record for the blue-chip suburb. It was also the second most expensive house sale of 2017, behind the $28.9m for a home on O'Neills Avenue, in Takapuna, Auckland.
The interiors of the mansion are stunning. Photo / Supplied
Sir John in the gardens of the house in 2014, just after his election victory. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The sale of the Saint Stephens Avenue home represents an on-paper loss of more than $7m. The price also falls $5.7m short of the property's 2021 CV.
The 1752sqm property was formerly three separate titles which the Key family bought and converted into one single title. The Keys built a stunning home with inviting outdoor pool on the site, and lived there throughout Sir John's premiership.
The St Stephens Ave sale broke the record for the top sale in Parnell last year, OneRoof-Valocity records show.
Valocity senior research analyst Wayne Shum said people looking in the $16m plus dollar price bracket are also likely to look in Remuera, Herne Bay and Westmere along with Parnell.
"These sort of properties always have the demand especially now that the borders have opened up and all the ex-pats are coming to look."
Shum said people looking in the high-end of the market had a lot more requirements.
"They have a lot more boxes they want to tick. Does it have enough bedrooms, is the swimming pool big enough, does it have a tennis court?"
Parnel had a wide mix of property types from apartments, townhouses, character homes and mansions for such a small geographic area, he said. The section sizes also started to shrink as they moved inland towards Parnell Rise.
Bayleys salesperson Fleur Denning said while the majority of Parnell residents wanting to upsize look to stay in the area, it's not always possible for them to find what they want due to the scarcity of options.
"A number of these substantial properties are retained by families for decades with many purchased as a family home with young children to take them through to university age. We have a number of buyers with significant budgets with some sitting in the wings waiting for the right place for years who are quick to act as soon as there is an opportunity."
Meanwhile Sir John and his son Max are still making property headlines. The pair launched Stonewood Key Capital last year with property developers Stonewood Group.
The group stated the goal of the partnership was to focus on raising capital from wholesale investors - $100 million within 18 months.
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