‘Sorry, we signed a confidentiality clause’: Record-setting mansion sells again

In February 2024, the grand Arts and Crafts house on Orakei Road, in Remuera, was sold in four minutes to a family who had only seen it the day before.

The sale price was New Zealand’s highest for a residential property at auction, and sent ripples across the industry, with agents telling OneRoof at the time that it proved top-end properties could get results under the hammer.

This time securing a sale took a bit longer. The owner listed the property in February this year, opting for a tender campaign rather than an auction, but buyers in the $10m-plus bracket were reluctant to commit straight away.

Barfoot & Thompson agent Aden Xu finally got a deal over the line for his vendor last week, but declined to tell OneRoof who the buyer was and what they paid.

“Sorry, we signed a confidentiality clause.”

OneRoof records show that there was a title transfer for Orakei Road a year ago for $12.6m. The name on the new title is different to the one associated with the $12.8m sale, but Xu said his client’s details were confidential.

The six-bedroom property seems to be popular with buyers. In 2021, it changed hands for $11m, and in 2024, it attracted four determined bidders.

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The Barfoot & Thompson agent who brought the house to auction in 2024 told OneRoof at the time that her vendor had just left New Zealand, while the new buyers had only just arrived in the country.

The luxuriously finished property has a swimming pool and tennis court, is in Auckland’s prized double grammar school zone and has an RV of $11.8m.

The Orakei Road deal follows news that tech entrepreneur Graeme Fraser sold a mansion on nearby Arney Road last year for $43m - a house price record for Auckland, and the second highest sale price in New Zealand. The landmark deal, which was brokered by Bayleys agent Edward Pack, might be a one-off for the suburb due to the amount of land involved.

The 1ha-plus property, the largest on Arney Road, overlooks the harbour and boasts a nearly 1000sqm house with five bedrooms and garaging for four cars as well as a tennis court and swimming pool.

Agents have told OneRoof that there has been quite a bit of buyer activity in the $10m price bracket. Some of the deals have come together quite quickly, while others, like the Orakei Road property, have taken months.

One of the speedier deals was the sale of developer Richard Kroon’s mansion on Victoria Avenue. Kroon, who has been busy with his $150m apartment development Victoria Lane, found a buyer for the 519sqm prestige residence in May, less than a month after putting it on the market with Barfoot & Thompson agent James Doole.

The four-bedroom home sits on 1966sqm of land and comes with a full tennis court and an outdoor pool. The sale price is yet to be disclosed, but it has an RV of $12m, and was looking for a buyer with over $10m to spend.

Bayleys agent Gary Wallace told OneRoof last week that he and his team, wife Vicki and son Andrew, had closed several high-profile deals in Remuera, including to AIP visa holders.

He just settled three big sales in the suburb, all for around $10m each.

He told OneRoof that vendors and agents at the upper end of the market had to be patient this year.

“You’ve got some people who are looking but haven’t sold,” Wallace told OneRoof. “Once you have got the interest from genuine parties, then you have to get an understanding of their circumstances. Sometimes it is like trying to fit the square peg into the round hole.”

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