- Queenstown-Lakes’ prestige property market has thrived in 2024
- Agency records big jump in $10m-plus sales, reports two $20m-plus sales
- Buyers well educated about the market and are looking for privacy
The Queenstown-Lakes prestige market has flourished this year, agents have told OneRoof.
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New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Mark Harris said that the agency in Queenstown-Lakes had sold three homes for more than $10 million each. This year it has sold eight – two of which fetched more than $20m each.
Other agencies in the wealthy enclave have enjoyed similarly strong results.
OneRoof data shows Queenstown-Lakes’ share of NZ’s $5m-plus property market has grown from 13% last year to 18% this year (and that’s with the last two months of 2024 still to be counted).
One of the big sales to appear in the data is a $10.25m deal for a lifestyle property on Camp Hill Road, in Albert Town. The luxury seven-bedroom lodge, which sits on 56 hectares and had a 2021 CV of $4.3m, sold in June this year.
Harris declined to give details of his agency’s top sales, saying his clients preferred privacy, but added there was “new confidence in the market”.
NZ Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Mark Harris: "We’ve got several [buyers] out of the US who are waiting to see if the rule changes next year." Photo / Supplied
He said buyers appeared to know what was going on in the market and had taken a considered approach to their transactions. “It’s not a case of FOMO.”
Much of the selling at the upper level was about matching buyer needs with the right property, he said. Transactions did not happen overnight.
The top requirement was privacy, along with views and proximity to amenities such as golf courses. Buyers were either moving to the area or wanted a holiday home.
“There’s no doubt that at that level we have clients who have multiple homes around New Zealand and other areas of the world.”
While there had been a “dramatic” increase in the number of international eyeballs on Queenstown-Lake properties – Sotheby’s saw a big bump after Donald Trump won the US election earlier this month – New Zealand’s foreign buyer ban meant very few of these visits turned into purchases.
Agents Matt Finnigan and colleague Russell Reddell sold seven of the eight properties this year and Finnigan agreed there were more high-level properties on the market.
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The majority came to the market due to a variety of factors, including people moving on to the next phase of life.
“I’m just going through the list in my head and they’re all downsizing or succession type stuff, like retiring and setting the kids up. I think, actually, it’s just a moment in time, not reflective of anything else.”
Finnigan thought buyers were keen again because the Queenstown-Lakes area, including Hawea and Wanaka, had sidestepped the pressures seen in the housing market in the rest of the New Zealand market.
“It certainly doesn’t feel like we’ve got a wall of buyers looking for somewhere to park their money because the world’s about to collapse. It’s actually probably that some good offerings have come to the market.”
He added: “Two of those deals have been over $20 million so they are reasonably large sums and there’s more under contract or negotiation right now.
“It doesn’t feel like a frothy market environment. None of these deals have been easy. They’ve just been quite traditional transactions really.”
While Finnigan would not give details of the sales, he pointed OneRoof to properties currently for sale in the $10m-plus price range.
76 Hunter Road, in Speargrass Flat, sits on 21.42 hectares and is for sale by negotiation. Photo / Supplied
530 Littles Road has been pitched as one of Dalefield’s best-kept secrets. Photo / Supplied
One of them, in Speargrass Flat, is a five-bedroom, four-bathroom property on 21.42ha of land.
Described as a modern rural retreat, the property has consent for a three-lot subdivision on the lower terrace, providing options to create a multi-generational estate, according to the listing.
Another in Dalefield is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house on 4.09ha being marketed by Justine Burke and Gerard Bligh.
Their listing describes “Rivendell” as one of Dalefield’s finest properties and best-kept secrets with a tree-lined driveway leading to an elevated position with 360-degree panoramic views of the Whakatipu Basin including the Remarkables Mountain Range, the Shotover River, the Crown Range and Coronet Peak.
The “breathtaking” grounds were designed by award-winning landscape architect Ralf Kruger in the style of a European parkland setting.
A three-bedroom trophy home at 216 Remarkables Ski Field Access Road has a $12.95m price tag. Photo / Supplied
A third property is being marketed by Finnigan and Reddell as the ultimate alpine retreat and comes with a $12.95m price tag.
“Set in the foothills of The Remarkables, Pokapu embraces the finest aspects of luxurious mountain living, privacy and space.”
The Michael Wyatt design was bold in character but sat gently on the circa 40-hectare estate, the listing said.
Harris said the “economy is going in the right direction, interest rates are going in the right direction, inflation is under control – all those key indicators that we’re entering a new cycle of, hopefully, sustained growth”.
Global unrest meant New Zealanders were also looking to their own backyard a bit more. “There’s no doubt that expats out there are looking back to New Zealand,” he said.
“You do often get that word ‘safe haven’ expressed in inquiry out of these countries but unfortunately at the moment the rules don’t permit a lot of those buyers to purchase.”
Some of those buyers remained on the database in case the ban was dropped. “We’ve got several out of the US at the moment who are waiting to see if the rule changes next year and are hoping that it does.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Queenstown-Lakes
