The 10 most-viewed listings on OneRoof right now include everything from “the best bach on earth” to a private Robinson Crusoe-style island. Also piquing buyer interest are a modest home in Timaru that falls within the KiwiSaver first-home buyer cap and a big chunk of land in West Auckland.
However, the property that has attracted the most eyeballs is a resort-like home in Auckland's Pakuranga Heights. It has a 2021 CV of $8.8 million and is being sold by the same agents who brokered last year’s and this year’s most expensive sales.
Five of the top 10 are in Auckland – and scattered throughout the city – but Northland properties also get a showing. According to the data, the most popular suburb for buyers on OneRoof over the last month is Papatoetoe. Price appears to be driving much of the interest there, with the South Auckland suburb one of just 42 in the city with an average property value of less than $1m.
The fact that investors and developers have left the field clear for first-home buyers is another reason for the surge in interest, with Ray White Manukau co-owner Tom Rawson telling OneRoof: “A year ago families might not have been able to get into Papatoetoe. Families were only able to look at the fringes. Now [buyers] are looking at where they’d rather be.”
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Auckland is where most of the eyeballs are looking but also attracting interest is Papamoa, in Tauranga, and Cambridge, in Waikato.
The top 10 most-viewed homes on Oneroof.co.nz are:
13 Acmena Lane, in Pakuranga, Auckland
Taking the top spot for most viewed property is a 540sqm executive home set on expansive 6300sqm grounds hidden behind gates and a stone wall at 13 Acmena Lane, in Pakuranga Heights. The resort-style home, which is listed with Bayleys agents Angela Rudling and Michael Chi and has a 2021 CV of $8.8m, comes with a tennis court and swimming pool, and borders one the country’s leading private schools.
Rudling, who made the headlines with her $20m sale in Whitford in January and a $26.3m Mellons Bay sale in 2022, told OneRoof when the listing first landed: “It’s amazing to find a lifestyle option like this one in the middle of suburbia. Normally you’d have to go out to Whitford for something of this quality – and it’s so close to St Kent’s, in a discreet, private cul-de-sac.”
The property is for sale by way of price on application.
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Lot 2/2395 State Highway 1, in Kaiwaka, Kaipara
With a certain segment of buyers, off-the-grid homes are increasing in popularity. The 102sqm two-bedroom home at Lot 2/2395 State Highway 1, in Kaiwaka, Kaipara, sits in 4393sqm of native bush and boasts mountain views and a state-of the art solar power system.
Another reason for buyer interest: the property is seeking offers of $799,000-plus.
Bayleys agent Jan Anderson Halliday says the property also comes with a trendy sleep pod, which could in theory be used as a short-term rental.
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282 Otipua Road, in Timaru, Canterbury
Another two-bedroom home with an affordable price tag is 282 Otipua Road, in Timaru. Pitched at first-home buyers and investors, the smartly-presented brick home sits on a cross-lease site and is within walking distance of one of the town’s main shopping centres.
Listing agent Debbie Brown, from Bayleys, says interest in the property is huge. “My phone has been going nuts, and the email has been going nuts,” she says.
The vendors are seeking $390,000-plus, which puts the home within the KiwiSaver First Home Grant cap for Timaru.
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159 The Strand, Onetangi, Waiheke Island
At the other end of the scale is the “best bach on earth”, according to Graham Wall, of Wall Real Estate. Wall’s listing is proving very popular with not only real estate dreamers but also those who have the money to realise very expensive real estate dreams.
The three-bedroom beachfront pad is owned by a prominent Auckland rich lister and has a CV of $7.3m, but expect it to sell for more, with Wall telling OneRoof last month: “The island has had two $10m sales on the water this summer, but this will sell for a lot more”.
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Motuekaiti Island, in Kaeo, Far North
Another dream property attracting buyer interest is a 3.34-hectare spot less than 10 minutes from Paihia by helicopter. It’s one of two high-profile islands Bayleys listing agent John Greenwood is selling (the other is Motuketekete, a 24ha island about 200km away in the Hauraki Gulf, is co-listed former deputy PM Paula Bennett).
This one, though, is the more affordable of the two.
When the listing first hit the market, Greenwood told OneRoof that Motuekaiti Island was “begging for a Robinson Crusoe or a Tom Hanks from the movie Castaway”.
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14 Ranui Station Road, in Ranui, Waitakere, Auckland
14 Ranui Station Road, in West Auckland, isn’t a house – it’s a 1012sqm slice of flat land zoned for development. It’s being pitched by Harcourts listing agent Aman Gulia as a “shovel-ready project”, with Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] approval and building consents for seven houses.
Although amateur developers have left the market, good development land still sells well, says Gulia. The 20m wide section has a June 2021 rateable value of $1.805m.
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92B Marsden Avenue, in Mount Eden, Auckland City
It looks like it was first built 120 years ago, but the four-bedroom, two-storey villa at 92B Marsden Ave, in Auckland’s Mount Eden, is a new-build with all the mod-cons of a modern executive home, including ducted heating and ensuites. The home, which is being marketed by New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Greg Dennerly, is for sale by negotiation.
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329 Otaki Gorge Road, in Te Horo, Kapiti Coast
Only one Wellington home appears in our top 10 list but it’s a stunner. The 410sqm four-bedroom home at 329 Otaki Gorge Road, in Te Horo, sits on 7.36ha of quality grazing land and, according to listing agents Travis Robertson and Grant Robertson, of Property Brokers, is “your heart’s desire”.
The home was designed by renowned architect Alan Minty and is seeking offers of $3.5m-plus.
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190B Charles Street, in Westshore, Napier, Hawke's Bay
Napier’s entry in the top 10 is an apartment-style townhouse in the city’s popular suburb of Westshore. The home, which was built in 2017, has a rateable value of $1.15m and is seeking a buyer with a budget of $1.475m-plus.
Listing agent Tracey Campbell, of Ray White, says this is “easy care cosmopolitan living at its best”.
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29 Elevation Street, in Flat Bush, Manukau, Auckland
A brand-new home with eight bedrooms, seven bathrooms, including five ensuites with walk-in wardrobes, and two kitchens. That’s what is on offer at 29 Elevation Street, in Flat Bush, South Auckland. The three-storey property, which is listed with Harcourts agents Kenneth Hung and Lisa Cao, is for sale by negotiation.