A new Auckland penthouse which sold for $16.5 million has set a new national apartment sale record for a settled sale, a property expert says.
Nick Goodall, CoreLogic research head, said the sale in one of the city's most expensive suburbs set a new benchmark.
"It's a record for a single apartment sale ever in New Zealand," Goodall said when searching the title of the just-finished Remuera penthouse.
The property also set a valuation record, put at $19 million in the project where 13 apartments sold for $57m.
Property Guru and Auckland Council put the fourth-floor Elm Remuera penthouse at that figure, after the developers altered plans to replace three units consented on the top floor to develop one much larger place taking up all the floorplate.
The apartment fills the top level, making it around 535sq m plus balconies, with seven basement car parks.
Martin Cooper of Experiences by Cooper developed Elm Remuera with Countrywide Residences and he suspected the sale had set a record. Ray White Remuera's Steen Nielsen was the agent but he said he couldn't talk about the sale due to confidentiality clauses in the contract.
Cooper said all up, sales in the building were $57m which pleased him.
But he has to stay quiet on the record-breaking top floor sale.
"I can't talk about this," he said of the penthouse. "The privacy of our buyers is important to us."
The Herald reported the penthouse sale at The International at $15.3m in 2016.
In 2018, the penthouse of The Pacifica in Auckland CBD was for sale for $35m, setting a record asking price. That level 57 place never sold and has since been split into smaller spaces to draw buyers.
In May, OneRoof reported the top floor of the Victoria Lane apartments on the Remuera Rd/Victoria Ave corner went for $17m.
However, only a deposit was paid last year on that place and the full $17m sale is yet to settle hence it doesn't appear in records CoreLogic's Goodall accesses showing finalised sales and money fully paid. CMP is not due to finish the 23-unit $50m building till March next year.
At Elm, balconies surround the north and west apartment sides, with fully glazed walls.
Cooper developed the 13-unit project in a joint venture with Countrywide Residences owned by Mike Sullivan, whose Clearwater Construction was the builder.
The pandemic had spurred sales, not dented them, Cooper said.
"Yes, someone bought the top floor and we've combined all three apartments into one much bigger residence. This was to customise the place to suit the owner's needs," Cooper said.
The downturn wasn't felt in the luxury end of the market, although the Herald has reported other luxury units being discounted.
Two luxury inner Auckland townhouses had $230,000 to $350,000 reduced from their pre-construction sale prices as a number of developers battle to finish projects amid falling house prices. Developers behind the Westmere project on Tirotai Cres are building "eight classy, contemporary modern townhouses", just a minute's walk from the suburb's "picturesque waterfront". For a "limited time" prices for two of the townhouses have been cut from $2.1m to $1.75m and from $2.45m to $2.2m.
At Elm, Cooper said places were not discounted: "Total sales were $57m, ranging from $2m to $5m/unit but the penthouse price is withheld."
The places in the four-level block are big, averaging 203sq m and two to four bedrooms, each have between one and seven car parks in a basement tucked into the bottom of the sloping site.
"The project at 18 Ōrākei Rd has been completed and residents have all moved in after an 18-month build which saw only modest delays due to Covid lockdowns," Cooper said.
Previously 15 apartments were planned, cut by two "after working with one buyer to combine three penthouses into one. Elm Remuera also features an on-site pool, gardens and a pavilion for owners' use", he said.
It was due to be marketed just after New Zealand went into its first full Covid-19 lock-down in early 2020, keeping people at home and introducing an unprecedented level of uncertainty about the property market.
Yet $31m of contracts were signed in the first six weeks of post-lockdown "and this went on to become one of the only substantial luxury developments in New Zealand to fully sell out off plans almost 12 months before completion," Cooper said.
After the scaffold came off the nearly-completed block, "a large influx of inquiry came from people who had previously been unsure about committing to a purchase early", Cooper said.
They were told they had missed out.
Last month, OneRoof reported a $12m Remuera sale which it said was the highest settled sale for the suburb this year.
That was the sale of a Remuera Rd mansion with a Michelangelo swimming pool. It was on the market for the first time in 25 years.
"It's the highest settled for the suburb this year but falls well short of the record-breaking $29m paid last year for a 979sqm modern house on the same road," OneRoof reported on July 15.
Elm was designed by Christchurch's +MAP and Lukas Design.
Prices were roughly double those at Mission Bay's completed Outlook, the 43-unit scheme Cooper finished recently in another joint venture with Clearwater.
Elm takes its name from one of the streets it fronts, Elmstone Ave, but Cooper said it was also a reference to the nearby Elmstone, the opulent Heritage New Zealand-rated English Renaissance-style house on the corner of Remuera Rd and Orakei Rd. That mansion was built in 1909-10 to a design by architect B. C. Chilwell for businessman Victor Larner.
Cooper is also developing 1 St Stephens, beside the Anglican Cathedral in Parnell.
There, the business has pre-sold 12 of 27 units, he said. He remains confident about the luxury apartment market, saying people often have larger homes to sell and want to downsize and make their lives easier.
This is the market he is targeting.
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