It’s the beach town with the highest concentration of wealth in New Zealand, where baches are more mansion-like in their size and styling.
But even in Omaha, where the average property value is close to $3 million, there are some addresses that are so exclusive and tightly held that buyers are willing to pay record sums to land a spot there.
OneRoof and its data partner Valocity looked at property sales in the small town north of Auckland and identified three streets where prices are well above the suburb average and among the highest in New Zealand.
The analysis also highlighted the rise in the town’s fortunes in the years since Covid hit.
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In last four years, Omaha house prices jumped 43% as wealthy Aucklanders looked to take advantage of the post-Covid drop in interest rates and grab themselves a holiday home. The average property value grew $846,000 – more than double what the average Kiwi could have earned over the same period, before tax.
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In dollar terms, Omaha has been the North Island’s hottest housing market (only Queenstown suburbs have enjoyed bigger dollar growth over the period), and looking at the figures it’s easy to see why.
The town is on sandspit connected to the Tāwharanui Peninsula and really only has one main route in and out - a bridge that connects it to the mainland.
There are 1378 residential and lifestyle properties in the main Omaha peninsula, 203 of which are beachfront.
In the last four years, 158 Omaha properties have had a recorded sale linked to their address, with an average sale price of $3.04m. Of those, 29 were beachfront, for which the average sale price was $5.61m (the average sale price of non-beachfront properties in the last four years has been $2.46m).
All up 20 properties have sold for more than $5m in the last four years, 16 of which were beachfront. Going by sale prices alone, the streets with the most expensive beachfront homes are Kutai Lane and Inanga Lane, on the southern end of the spit, and Rita Way, at the northern end, while Taumata Road is where buyers are willing to pay the most for non-beachfront homes.
According to the figures, the most money paid for a beachfront home in Omaha was $9.1m, achieved in 2022, for a luxury pad on Kutai Lane, while the highest sale price for a non-beachfront property was $6m, paid in 2022, for a bach on Taumata Road.
The lowest sale price for a beachfront property in the last four years was $2.35m for a section on Ida Way, while the lowest sale price for a non-beachfront bach was $1.05m, achieved in September 2020 for 184 Omaha Drive, an empty section. That property is back on the market with a new-build and is eyeing a sale price triple that number.
Bayleys agent Luke McCaw said busy professionals were showing new interest in Omaha, thanks to faster commuting times – the result of the new Ara Tūhono motorway. McCaw, who is based in Ponsonby, said the new motorway was the reason he took on a listing at 38 Rita Way.
The beachfront architect-designed three-bedroom, three-bathroom home, which has a 2021 CV of $5.15m and goes to auction on February 14, is only an hour and five minutes from Ponsonby, said McCaw, “which has made the drive just so much more easy. Hence the reason I’m doing it. I’m a Ponsonby-based agent, but I was happy to help with this [listing] for that reason”.
The motorway connection was designed to shave 11 minutes off the journey from Pūhoi to Warkworth. It has made McCaw’s commute to and from his luxury listing seamless.
Omaha's most expensive bach: a luxury pad on Kutai Lane fetched $9.1m in 2022. Photo / Supplied
A four-bedroom, newly-built Hamptons-style bach for sale at 184 Omaha Drive, in Omaha. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve had strong inquiry from Auckland City fringe buyers from the eastern suburbs through to Herne Bay, who are looking for a high-quality secondary home.”
Growing business confidence in Auckland is flowing into high-end property purchases, said McCaw. “There’s more confidence with respect to the year ahead, what the market is doing, [and] what interest rates are doing. I think buyers have more confidence with respect to their own professions and businesses. So therefore, they’re more confident in considering luxury items like this.
“I have confidence that our buyer is within an hour and a half of where the property is, whether that be local or Auckland.”
The home was designed by Arc Art architects in 2018, and standout features include the vertical cedar wall that runs from the ground floor to the top floor. “And you have a lovely blend of polished concrete, and glass stairwell,” the agent said.
“[The] security, air conditioning and lighting, are fully automated. It’s all controlled via a phone. You could be controlling the internal temperature at your home in Herne Bay before you leave.”
Being at the northern, more established end of Omaha is a real strength of the property, said McCaw. “At the northern end you have better quality amenities. The southern end of Omaha is newer. It has more consistency in the design of homes, but you don’t get that maturity of landscaping, trees, greenery and growth around you. So having a new build of a contemporary style like this stands out more, in the original [northern] end of Omaha.
“One of the strong selling features and what makes this unique is that it gets a stunning ocean view from both floors,” said McCaw. Many similar properties have dunes in front of them blocking sea views from the ground floor in particular.
McCaw said he expected the sale price to be near the high-end for Omaha.
A three-bedroom beachfront property for sale at 38 Rita Way, in Omaha. Photo / Supplied
While sales in Omaha have been slow in the last 12 months – the result of the downturn – agents expect the market to pick up. Precision Real Estate agent Di Balich said that it was not unusual for families to have a last hurrah over the summer then list the homes for sale.
Buyer interest over the summer has focused at opposite ends of the market. “The very low end of the market is still quite busy,” she said. “And at the upper end of the market is quite busy. It’s like 50/50.”
High-end properties in Omaha are often sold off-market, said Balich. It’s not uncommon for a neighbour to spot her inspecting a property and to come forward with a potential buyer.
“I’ve had multiple sales that don’t come to market, because I already knew the buyer. [Or] sometimes when neighbours see you walking around a property, they will ring you up and see whether it is for sale, because they’d rather have a neighbour that they knew than not.”
Balich said she has sold high-value homes in neighbouring Matakana, especially on Torea Road. But it’s a different market. “It’s two different markets. People that like Matakana don’t like Omaha.
“I’ve sold everything that I’ve got, but I’ve got a new build coming up for completion in probably six months.”
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