Two immaculate, ready-to-move-in houses in St Heliers, Auckland, sold within days of each other for a combined value of more than $15 million, OneRoof can reveal.
The sales, completed earlier this month, showed that when properties with the “X factor” come up the buyers are there, according to the listing agent for both.
Barfoot & Thompson’s Paul Neshausen got $8.92m for a five-bedroom architectural stunner on Benbow Street and $6.77m for a four-bedroom Hamptons-style home on Fern Glen Road.
Neshausen said both houses were masterpieces in their own right. The Benbow Street residence was designed by Swan Railley, boasted the latest in home tech and had harbour views that would “blow your mind”.
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The vendor had told OneRoof in March that he made significant upgrades to the home when they bought it.
“It was a high-spec, high-quality build when it was done. It’s very solid and built like a bunker. It’s literally steel, concrete, schist and quality heavy commercial grade joinery but still has a lot of soul.”
The house was retrofitted with hardwired automated blinds and curtains, which was a handy way of waking up. “One cool aspect of this is in the morning we sort of use it as an alarm clock, as they automatically open and the sea appears,” the vendor told OneRoof.
The Benbow Street home was designed by Swan Railley and upgraded to a high standard. Photo / Supplied
The property boasted views that would “blow your mind”, according to the listing agent. Photo / Supplied
Neshausen said the house wasn’t on the market long. And despite challenges in the wider housing market, the campaign attracted an “above normal” level of interest from people who knew the house was looking for around $9m.
“In three weeks we would have had 15 groups through that property.”
The new owners lived in a nearby suburb and fell in love with the house when they walked in.
“They saw it in week one and bought it in week two. That was exactly what they were looking for.”
Everyone who saw the house loved its position in St Heliers Village and the “incredible” sea views. “That house had anything that you could desire. It had space, it was big and yet was low-maintenance. It even had a commercial lift.
“It was just a beautiful floor plan. It could accommodate a small or a large family or long-stay in-laws and things like that so it kind of worked on a number of fronts.”
The house also came with a heated swimming pool, spa and sauna.
The number of people who came to look at it with budgets within the $9m price range showed there was good interest for properties that ticked all the boxes, Neshausen said.
“I think they are kind of generation-proof. They are big family homes where you can spread out and have privacy and they work well for young families or older children.”
Likewise, the house on Fern Glen Road was “glorious”, he said.
“That was one of the best built homes I’ve been in. It was just beautiful.”
A four-bedroom Hamptons-style home on on Fern Glen Road sold this month for $6.77m. Photo / Supplied
Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Neshausen says buyers at the top end of the market are responding to quality, move-in ready homes. Photo / Fiona Goodall
He described the house in the marketing as being a Hampton’s masterpiece (the Hamptons is where New York’s affluent set have their holiday homes).
Neshausen told OneRoof the four-bedroom, three-bathroom St Heliers house had a Hampton’s vibe and feel with the white interior design, plantation shutters, open floor plan and cathedral ceiling.
“It was just so beautifully built - it was real craftsmanship in that house.”
The house fetched $1.17m more than the $5.6m CV, again because homes with X factor that were well-built and well-presented were selling for good money, he said.
Part of the attraction with both houses was that everything was already done so all people had to do was move in.
Buyers at this level had often been through renovations before and had no desire to do another, or had a family and found renovations too hard to handle. “They don’t mind doing the odd little titillation but no bathrooms or kitchens or anything major.”
According to the marketing, the Hamptons-style house had a sanctuary of tiered gardens overlooking Dingle Dell’s native bush to a sweeping harbour view, as well as flowing sunny spaces, a simple layout and carefully crafted details.
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