Even in a year when house values dropped 14% from the peak of the market, 2023 will still be a record-breaking year for more than 300 Kiwi suburbs.
OneRoof and its data partner Valocity found that one in 10 suburbs achieved their highest ever sale price last year, as buyers shelled out millions of dollars for homes.
A total of 337 suburbs broke price records, in many cases by as much as 300%. The majority of record sales were in Otago (52), fuelled by a strong demand for homes in the region’s affordable and up-and-coming suburbs.
Canterbury had the next biggest tally of record breakers (43), with many of the region’s smaller towns and new-build suburbs enjoying big sales.
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However, the research also showed heat in West Coast, Taranaki and Manawatu-Whanganui, with record-breaking sales found in one in five suburbs in each of three regions.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said it was remarkable there were so many top sales in a year when buyers faced high interest rates and a market slump.
“Fresh records in 337 suburbs last year is no mean feat when you consider suburbs hit their price peak in 2021 and 2022, and buying conditions in 2023 were less than ideal,” he said.
“Many of the price records were in affordable suburbs, reflecting the fact that much of the market activity in 2023 was driven by first-home buyers and that higher rates put constraints on price growth.
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“However, there were a clutch of big-ticket sales in some of the country’s wealthiest housing markets, including Jack’s Point in Queenstown, and Mission Bay in Auckland. Seven of the record prices were in excess of $10 million, showing there were some determined buyers with deep pockets.”
Valocity senior research analyst Wayne Shum said the research also highlighted the extent of the price growth at the top of the market in the 337 record-breaking suburbs.
Kiwi superstar Taka Waititi and his UK wife, singer Rita Ora paid $10.5m for their waterfront home in Auckland's Point Chevalier. Photo / Getty Images
Waititi’s house overlooks Point Chevalier beach with views across the Upper Waitemata Harbour. Photo / Supplied
“The average difference between the record-breaking sale in 2023 and the previous highest sale was 32%, but the difference in some suburbs was as high as 300%.
“We identified 24 suburbs where the highest sale price was more than double the previous record, although of those just nine saw record sales where the property in question had been listed on the open market for sale.”
One of the big sales involved Oscar-winning Kiwi film-maker Taika Waititi and his UK wife, singer Rita Ora. The star couple paid $10.5m for a luxury waterfront pad in Auckland's Point Chevalier, shattering the suburb’s previous price record of $5.4m, set in 2018 for waterfront house on Bangor Street.
2023’s record-breaking suburbs
OneRoof and Valocity identified the 10 suburbs where the percentage difference between the record-breaking sale price in 2023 and the previous most expensive sale was highest.
The data only covers settled residential sales of properties that were listed on OneRoof.co.nz.
1. Jack’s Point, Queenstown
OneRoof understands an agent from Auckland came door-knocking with a buyer resulting in a record setting $19.222m sale of a stunning alpine property in Hidden Island Road, one of the few truly big Queenstown sales last year.
The five-bedroom (all with ensuites), three-garage home is located in the front row of what’s called the Preserve, a domain of exclusivity within the suburb of Jack’s Point. Elsewhere in the suburb properties are more likely to sell in the lower millions.
The house, framed by The Remarkables and with big Lake Wakatipu views, fetched a whopping 309% more than the previous official record for the suburb, which was $4.7m, and from 2019 so before Covid and the subsequent price boom.
A luxury Queenstown estate on Hidden Island Road, in Jack's Point, sold for $19.2m in April 2023. Photo / Supplied
However, OneRoof also understands the same house in Hidden Island Road sold in 2020 or 2021, also ahead of the post-Covid boom, and likely for well over the previous record, but that sale is not public on OneRoof.
It was made by New Sotheby’s International Realty agents Matt Finnigan and Russell Reddell and an Information Memorandum from the time states an asking price of $18.5m.
The property is described as having spectacular lake and mountain views with the house designed by award-winning architects Mason and Wales and built by preeminent local builder Triple Star.
The property has the “best of the best” in design, construction and engineering. Two distinct buildings are linked by a translucent entry gallery, and the exterior features local schist stonework as well as cedar, concrete and dark bronze steel cladding, said the marketing.
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2. Drift Bay, Queenstown
A luxury new build that caught the eye of Hollywood secured another Queenstown suburb record last year, netting $7.3m which is 150% over the previous Drift Bay record of $2.91m from 2019.
The Tasman Terrace property was bought by Aucklanders who paid more than $1m over its CV.
Agent Sarena Glass, also of NZ Sotheby’s, said foreign celebrities were not able to buy because of the ownership rules which preclude overseas buyers from purchasing in the gated Oraka estate just south of Jack’s Point.
A luxury home on Tasman Terrace, in Queenstown, sold in September 2023 to Auckland buyers. Photo / Supplied
With five bedrooms, the property also boasts views of The Remarkables and the lake and is one of the around 40 homes in the estate.
“It’s just a real quality build; five bedrooms, five bathrooms, split-level home. Every room had a view and just the quality of build, high level of finishes, schist and cedar construction – it just ticks a lot of the boxes of what people are looking for and an Alpine environment.”
Drift Bay is a lakefront suburb with a mix of permanent residences and holiday homes. Many of them have some view of the lake and a rugged and dramatic mountain backdrop, Glass said.
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3. Balcairn, Hurunui
The rural suburb of Balcairn in the South Island saw its previous 2019 record of $1.3m shatter with the sale of a Reserve Road property for $3.1m.
Agent Lance Farrant, of Bayleys, said retired farmers from England built the home on the north-facing 50-acre property ”with views across valleys and rolling hills towards the mountains and ocean together with nature’s ever-changing seasons, spellbinding sunrises and sunsets”.
The property has two master ensuites at each end of the house and parklike grounds with a heated saltwater pool and a pool house.
A lifestyle property on Reserve Road fetched the top price in Balcairn, Hurunui, when it sold for $3.1m. Photo / Supplied
Farrant said the view was the best he had ever seen, and he has sold real estate in Canterbury for 25 years so has seen some pretty fine views.
He wouldn’t say who bought the property but said Aucklanders and others from the North Island were very interested and he’s not surprised at the price describing the whole endeavour as “high class”.
“When you’ve had a farm in England which is 500 acres which you grew up as a kid until your retirement and then you come over here and put all of that knowledge to this, that was why that was worth what it was worth.”
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4. Waiiti, New Plymouth
When you can sit and watch orca from your rural lifestyle home in Taranaki, what’s not to like, asks agent Pete Baylis, of McDonald Real Estate.
Baylis sold a record-setter in Pukearuhe Road in the rural Taranaki suburb which he described as a “pretty special home”.
At $1.925m, the property was 126.47% up on the previous record-holder for Waiiti, a $1.3m sale from 2022.
The house is set in lush green fields back from the cliff with the sea below: “You could sit in the sunroom and watch the orca whales. We were out there one day and there were about five orca whales – we walked to the little lookout platform and they were playing right there in front of us.”
A coastal lifestyle home on Pukearuhe Road, in Waiiti, netted just under $2m when it sold last year. Photo / Supplied
Just walking through the front door gave the wow factor, Baylis said. High spec with heated floors and dynamic sunsets, the property is roughly an acre of manageable lifestyle.
“I always call them lifestyles, not a life sentence, because you get 10 acres and it becomes a life sentence if you’re not careful.”
Enquiry came from around the country but the buyers were from the Far North and had ties to the area which is close to the village of Urenui and about 35 minutes drive from New Plymouth.
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5. Tuamarina, Marlborough
Marlborough, at the top of the South Island, has many hidden gems and one of them fetched a big price for the suburb of Tuamarina with a $2m sale on Waikakaho Road netting 122% over the previous record of $900,000, although that was set back in 2003.
Agent Angus Mann, of NZ Sotheby’s, said the “very, very cool” lodge in the Waikakaho Valley was one of a number of properties hidden among the farms and forests of what was quite a large catchment.
With six bedrooms and eight garages, the property had the option of being run as a lodge or used as a residence.
A six-bedroom lodge on Waikakaho Road sold for a record-breaking $2m. Photo / Supplied
Mann’s marketing talked of there being a synergy of nature and luxury close to rivers and of park-like grounds and gardens with an array of fruit trees and wildlife including weka, morepork and a family of quail.
If it sounds idyllic, that’s because it is, he said, and people who move to the area tend to stay.
The house itself has a soaring kahikatea ceiling with exposed beams and a farmhouse “chef’s dream” kitchen.
Mann told OneRoof there are some beautiful lifestyle properties in Tuamarina including vineyards.
Aucklanders bought the property which is only 20 minutes from Blenheim, 25 from Marlborough Airport and 25 minutes from Picton and the beauty of the Marlborough Sounds.
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6. Kakapuaka, Clutha
The $895,000 price for a 1.46ha lifestyle block on Fisher Road, in Kakapuaka, about seven minutes out of Balclutha, Otago, was more than twice the earlier highest price for the district of $450,000 set eight years earlier.
The eventual sale was done as a private deal, but PGG Wrightson agent Jason Rutter, who had earlier listed the property asking $895,000, said that demand had been strong for properties with around 1.5ha to 4ha of land on the outskirts of Balclutha.
A lifestyle property on Fisher Road, in Kakapuaka, sold for $895,000 in May 2023. Photo / Supplied
“I had three lifestyle properties before Christmas, one on 2.5ha sold for $645,000. It had an RV of $395,000. Another with an RV of $305,000 sold for $600,000.
“Lifestyle is stronger than in town, where houses sell for $400,000 to $600,000 – but out here they’re getting so much more land.”
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7. Whitford, Auckland
Auckland's lifestyle suburbs have benefited post-Covid, but last year saw buyers target trophy homes and sprawling estates in Whitford and neighbouring Clevedon in the city's eastern fringe.
Agents relayed to OneRoof that there were some big deals in play, noting that wealthy buyers were turning away from traditional high-end lifestyle markets, and looking for somewhere fresh.
One of last year's biggest sales was in Whitford: $20m for a five-bedroom mansion owned by a wealthy American entrepreneur.
A country estate owned by an American car collector at Strathfield Lane, Whitford, sold in January 2023 for $20m to an overseas-based buyer. Photo / Supplied
The property on Strathfield Lane was listed with Ollie and Graham Wall, of Wall Real Estate, with the buyer brought to the deal by Bayleys agents Angela Rudling and Michael Chi, who had sold the house to Griot in 2011.
“The whole house, everything, was absolutely immaculate, we’ve never seen anything like it,” said Ollie Wall told OneRoof after the deal was completed.
“Buyers at the moment want absolutely finished properties, done to the highest quality. And there are still plenty of buyers for these places. There are not enough of them for sale.”
Rudling and Chi said their overseas-based buyer had only been looking for holiday home around Whitford for a week. When they knew the property was coming to market, they acted swiftly.
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8. Weraiti, Masterton
Weraiti is predominantly a suburb of lifestyle blocks in Masterton in the lower North Island and had a big sale last year just over double the previous suburb record.
Ray White agent Robbie Anderson billed the Masterton Stronvar Road property as one of Masterton’s finest lifestyle properties and made the $1.85m sale to a retired farmer in March 2023. The previous record was a $900,000 property that sold in 2022.
Anderson says the Masterton Stronvar Road property was exceptional and suited the buyers down to the ground.
“Most of the lifestyle stuff we sell is generally between one to five hectares whereas this one head 12 hectares and was elevated with amazing views. It was a very neat property.”
A lifestyle property on Masterton Stronvar Road broke the Weraiti house price record when it sold for $1.85m last year. Photo / Supplied
Potential buyers included people from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and there were multiple offers made, he says.
The house has four double bedrooms, a designer kitchen with a scullery and year round indoor/outdoor entertaining with decks overlooking the Wairarapa. There is a standalone studio along with sheds, sheep yards and fenced paddocks.
Weraiti Is about 10 minutes east of Masterton and while it's classed as rural it's not miles out of town, says Anderson.
“It's predominantly lifestyle. This one was surrounded by farmland but it is predominantly lifestyle and dry stock farming.”
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9. Newmarket, Auckland
In the central Auckland fringe suburb of Newmarket, Ray White agent Richard Thode sees the record $5.75m price he got for an architect-designed penthouse apartment in Railway Street (that was more than twice the suburb’s previous highest price, set in 2021) as the beginning of a growth trend.
“Its location is right between Remuera and Parnell. You’ll be seeing more of this happen as it is next to special suburbs, there’s the motorway, transportation, the shopping. A lot of people have underestimated Newmarket.
A penthouse apartment on Railway Street, in Newmarket, netted $5.75m. Photo / Supplied
“I think such a high-quality design is a sign of things to come,” he said, pointing to other new high-end developments such as the new retirement apartments in the former Blind Foundation and the Domain apartments.
“A lot of people have sold out of the big family home in Remuera and Parnell and are coming here,” he said.
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10. Glengarry, Hastings
In Glengarry, about 20 minutes out of Napier, a large 365sqm house on 1.97ha set the suburb record when it sold for $1.925m, nearly $1m higher than the previous record set in 2020. It was a private deal.
However, Harcourts agent Sam Hutchinson, who specialises in the area, said because there are so few sales in the smaller rural suburbs each year, a single big sale can skew the figures so it’s hard to say this is a trend.
A swish four-bedroom home in the Hastings suburb of Glengarry sold for $1.925m. Photo / Supplied
“And there’s the market before the cyclone [a year ago] and after.
“Since the cyclne, in this area [Eskdale and surrounds] the lifestyle property market now is completely different from the rest of Hawkes Bay. Red zone people are still waiting for their money, we don’t know what’s going to come for sale.
“It’s its own micro-market now,” she said.
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