Rich-listers pay 367pct premium for exclusive waterfront homes

  • 19/09/2016
64 Sentinel Rd, Herne Bay (supplied)
64 Sentinel Rd, Herne Bay (supplied)

Rich-listers are paying a massive premium for the privilege of owning absolute waterfront homes in Auckland.

To get your own beach or water access, no roads in the way, properties are fetching up to 367 percent more than the average price for that suburb.

Property website homes.co.nz crunched the data on 500 waterfront homes to discover the most expensive areas.

It found that the average value is $4.69m, compared to the average Auckland value of just over $1m.

The size of waterfront homes was also much larger - 305 square metres, compared to the Auckland average of 150 square metres.

Rich-listers pay 367pct premium for exclusive waterfront homes

Homes.co.nz chief marketing officer Jeremy O'Hanlon says these properties don't sell often.

"There has only been 42 properties [sold since January 2015] of that data set of about 500 homes in Auckland, so it's pretty tightly held."

However he says the capital gain is impressive, some growing by $1 million a year.

Rich-listers pay 367pct premium for exclusive waterfront homes

Sold for $24m; 64 Sentinel Rd, Herne Bay (supplied)

The most expensive property sold last year was massive, an 828 square metre cliff-top mansion in Herne Bay which sits on 4000 square metres of land. It was bought by property developer Ben Cook for $24 million.

Real estate company grahamwall.com sold that property, and agent Andrew Wall says they are getting more and more calls from overseas buyers.

"I think as the world gets crazier and crazier, New Zealand looks more attractive. We are getting calls from all over the world.

"So while it seemed like a rarefied atmosphere, I think it has become more and more populated."

He is currently marketing a waterfront home in Westmere worth more than $9 million. Houses across the other side of the road, away from the water, are valued at $3m.

"New Zealand is a pretty sensational spot - it is a knife blade in the middle of the ocean so we have more coast than most, but there is not a lot of it just like this right in the middle, two minutes from the centre of town."

The data set excluded Auckland's plush eastern suburbs like St Heliers because they have roads between the houses and the waterfront.

Rich-listers pay 367pct premium for exclusive waterfront homes

Rich-listers usually don't like their private sales and purchases being made public, but Mr O'Hanlon says the sales histories are all public records. From those, the website can estimate the current values.

"It updates every month and it's free, so we thought  it was about time that the public record in New Zealand be made public."

Newshub.