In golf-mad Queenstown, a real estate agent is drawing buyers to his open home this Saturday with a $1000 giveaway in a chip-and-putt competition.
Agent Hamish Walker, of Walker & Co, said the over one-hectare property at 508 Malaghans Road, in Speargrass Flat, had big potential for golfers.
“The whole point of the competition is to showcase the options and area that potential buyers have to install a few short golf holes,” he told OneRoof.
“The owners have many fond memories bringing the kids up at the property, playing golf all over the section. They also kept horses and even held weddings with over 120 people here.”
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Walker said that the six-bedroom home located just under Coronet Peak is being sold by a deadline sale closing February 13. He said interest in the property, which has a CV of $3.48 million, had been “north of $6m“.
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“The current vendors have lived in the property for over 30 years and have decided to sell up, buy a big boat and go sailing for 10 years.
“The indoor/outdoor area is one of the best I’ve seen. That will be in full use at the open home on Saturday with the vendor cooking a barbecue,” he said.
The property, designed by architect Fred van Brandenburg had interiors designed by Virginia Fisher and Sue Nauman (Fisher is best known for her work on luxury lodges such as Kauri Cliffs, Matakauri and Huka Lodge).
The kitchen and dining room has new flooring, while the double-height windows have views across the gardens to the surrounding scenery. The French country-style property includes generous bedrooms, a spacious media room and a heated swimming pool.
Queenstown is renowned for its golf courses, with eight courses within 20 minutes’ drive of the town centre. The Malaghans Road property is just minutes from two of the region’s internationally renowned champion courses, The Hills and Millbrook, which hosts the New Zealand Golf Open.
The district’s appeal to golfers is set to reach new heights with the announcement over the weekend that the exclusive The Hills course, owned by jeweller Michael Hill’s family, has locked in a joint venture with US billionaire Ric Kayne and his business partner Jim Rohrstaff, the people behind the exclusive and globally acclaimed Tara Iti and Te Arai golf clubs near Mangawhai, just north of Auckland. The joint venture partners plan to upgrade the golfing offering and probably include more accommodation.
Walker, who sold a $5.5m property in the Millbrook estate just before Christmas just a day after listing it, said that golfers were now looking to add small courses to their private properties.
“Quite often on these lifestyle properties, there are people who have a few holes. It’s quite the trend in Queenstown.”
Lyndon Smith, of Tic Projects who install premium golf courses around the country including those at Millbrook and Jacks Point, said that some homeowners liked to pop a putting green on their lawn.
“You can do a quite small chip and putt set-up, or some people have one or two greens with multiple tees to give them quite different shots,” he said.
Even the new luxury hospitality and event hub at nearby Ayrburn, in Arrowtown, has a one hole chipping green on the grounds of the refurbished complex of stone farm buildings, which a spokesperson said was more for family fun for diners at the complex.
Walker, who at the end of last year also sold a four-bedroom modern home on Advance Terrace in Arrowtown for mid $3ms and another in Lake Avenue, Frankton for a suburb record of $5.31m, said this summer had seen visitors back in force from both Australia and Auckland, with more sales being inked.
“A few deals for over $5m are just waiting for lawyers to come back from holidays.
“The market was a little slow between June and October with the election, but once more certainty existed after the government formed, more confidence has returned.
“My team and I worked right throughout the summer break to meet demand.
“The $5.5m Millbrook sale a few days before Christmas was to a buyer from our database.
“However, the fastest moving price range in Queenstown currently is the lower end $1m to 2m market. Between Christmas and New Year’s we sold two properties off-market to buyers from our database for prices in the mid to high $1 million.”
- 508 Malaghans Road, in Speargrass Flat, Queenstown, is for sale by way of deadline