New Auckland Council rateable valuation figures keep Herne Bay on top.
Auckland's most expensive house, excluding flats and apartments, is a clifftop mansion overlooking the Waitemata Harbour with a new rateable valuation of $46 million.
Auckland Council has released its new valuations today which give the rateable valuations (RV) of the 548,000 properties it evaluated.
The new RV on the seven-bedroom mansion at 4 Huriaro Place, Orakei, was up $7m on its 2014 valuation of $39m.
The city's most expensive house was bought in 2013 by businessman Deyi Shi for $39m. The founder and chairman of the Oravida Group and new owner of Ardmore Airport planned to live in the mansion with his wife and two children.
It once belonged to Mark Hotchin, formerly the director of failed finance company Hanover Finance.
In second place was the mansion owned by New Zealand's richest man, Graeme Hart.
The Kiwi businessman who has an estimated worth of $13.6 billion owns the city's, and likely the country's, second most expensive house at 743 Riddell Rd which is worth $40m.
The clifftop mansion and grounds of New Zealand's richest man, billionaire businessman Graeme Hart, at 743 Riddell Rd in Glendowie. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The sprawling clifftop mansion which sits on just over 2ha in Karaka Bay, was just one of the number of other properties Hart owned.
Its RV has risen by $9m since the last valuations in 2014.
The land was bought for $2m in 1995 and built upon over a number of years. The estate reportedly features a three-level banquet hall, complete with a domed glass atrium, its own swimming pool, wine cellar and view of the Hauraki Gulf.
77 Waiheke Rd, the third most expensive property in Auckland and likely New Zealand. Photo / Dean Purcell
In third place was an eight-bedroom property at 77 Waiheke Rd, on Waiheke Island - with a new RV of $39m - a figure which was $16m more than its last RV in 2014.
Qv.co.nz showed it was owned by Rorohara Farms Limited, of whom the directors are listed as Donald Braid and Carl Gascoigne Howard-Smith.
The idyllic retreat, with an expansive stretch of land boasted beautiful tracks among the island's native shrubbery. Known as Rorohara, or Pie Melon Bay, it has been opened to the public for fundraising events in the past.
Its winding driveway gives visitors a chance to stop and take in the breathtaking view of the island harbour.
Individual property information can be found on the council website, qv.co.nz with some Herald insights here
Golden Streets
Meanwhile Auckland's most expensive streets can be found in the upmarket suburbs of Herne Bay, Remuera, Epsom and Parnell - where all the houses on these streets have new rateable valuations (RV) above $1 million.
CoreLogic head of research Nick Goodall has analysed the data for the Herald, which shows the most expensive street in Auckland based on median RV is Cremorne St in Herne Bay - with a median RV across its 14 properties of $6.3m.
The pricey cul-de-sac has held first place since 2001, when it knocked Parnell's Crescent Rd off its perch.
In second place is Stack St, around the corner from Cremorne St, jumping from seventh most expensive street in 2014.
Stack St has seven properties, with a median RV across these homes of $5.6m. In third place is Westbury Cres, in Remuera, which has a median RV of $5.35m across 13 properties.
On Cremorne St the multi-million dollar properties, all of which have an RV above $3m, are owned by rich-listers, a prominent lawyer and property developers.
In 2014, the then 12 properties on the street had a combined collective value of nearly $90m. Today the Herald's insight's team estimated its combined value was $137.15m.
The house with the largest RV is 12 Cremorne St with an RV of $24.5m, rising $8m since 2014.
The four-bedroom home on 3865sq m of land is owned by Prospect Private Custodian Ltd - one of the directors of which is Mark Taylor, a director of a capital investment firm.
Taylor is listed a director of another company that owns another house on Cremorne St, Swanson Land Ltd, owner of 6 Cremorne St. The house has a new RV of $11.25m, up $3.55m.
It was once reportedly owned by Jacqueline and Phillip Mills of Les Mills Gym. The couple reportedly bought the estate in 1982 for $94,000 and spent a decade restoring it.
The second most expensive house on Cremorne St was number 15, which now has a capital value of $22.5m, up $7m since the last valuations in 2014.
It's owned by Lewis Grant and Stephen Lockwood, both of whom are also listed as owning number 20, which has a RV of $13.75m - the third highest RV on the street.
Queen's Counsel Colin Carruthers is another big name on the street, listed as the owner of number 8, a house once owned by former Heart of the City boss Alex Swney, who was jailed in 2015 for tax evasion of nearly $5m.
Carruthers' four-bedroom property has risen in RV almost $2m from $4.65m in 2014 to $6.1m this year.
The cheapest property on Cremorne St was at number 2, with a not-so cheap RV of $3.5m - still well above the city's average house value of $1.076m.
Top most expensive streets based on median RV
Cremorne St, Herne Bay $6.3m across 14 properties Stack St, Herne Bay $5.6m across seven properties Westbury Cres, Remuera $5.35m across 12 properties Omana Ave, Epsom $4.9m across 20 properties 10 Judge St, Parnell, $4.8m across 11 properties
