Revealed: 2022′s most expensive house sales - and who bought them

Reporter·NZ Herald·

29 Dec, 2022 04:00 PM7 mins to read

This Arney Rd home in Remuera was the third most expensive house sale recorded, for $16m, in June. Photo / Supplied

With celebrities and sports stars taking a backseat from the luxury housing market this year – that’s right there is no Hollywood star or All Black in this year’s list – prominent Kiwi businesswomen and men instead forked out tens of millions of dollars for the year’s biggest sales.

That included Mad Butcher owners Michael Morton and Julie Leitch selling their renovated mansion on Auckland’s prestigious Paritai Dr for $20 million.

Their home, with its gorgeous waterfront views, was the most expensive home sold this year and sits next door to one of the most expensive houses ever sold in New Zealand - the mega-mansion sold in 2013 to Deyi Shi for $39m.

Other top sales this year involved car dealership owner and richlister Murray Bolton, who ran a successful court challenge against the Government during the Covid lockdowns so he could fly to the United States by private jet and return home to isolate in his gated mansion.

The $20m paid to Morton and Leitch is just under the price fetched by 2021′s most expensive home – a Herne Bay clifftop home that sold for $22m.

This year’s sale was also down on 2020′s most expensive sale when toy-making billionaire Anna Mowbray and her former All Black partner Ali Williams paid $24 million to buy a sprawling Westmere mansion.

The top sales also come after an analysis by OneRoof found sales in the market’s top end significantly dropped off this year.

Comparing all settled residential sales in 2022 and 2021, OneRoof found there were 99 $5m-plus sales in the nine months to the end of September 2022 – down 48 per cent on the 194 recorded in the nine months to the end of September last year.

Yet while prices might be down, there is still plenty of glamour in this year’s list of top houses, compiled with data from analysts CoreLogic and Valocity, and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

$20m - Paritai Dr, Ōrākei

Mad Butcher shareholders Michael Morton and Julie Leitch sold this Paritai Dr home in Auckland's Ōrākei for $20m. Photo / Supplied

Renovated from a humble two-storey brick home into a sleek, modern mansion with wall-to-ceiling windows, Mad Butcher owners Michael Morton and Julie Leitch sold this home with its gorgeous views of Waitematā Harbour back in May.

It features a stylish marble kitchen, modern interiors and a 12-seat outdoor dining table that overlooks the outdoor pool and spa areas, out to the waterfront.

Shareholders in the Mad Butcher franchise, Morton is also the company’s chief executive, while partner Leitch is the daughter of founder and original Mad Butcher Peter Leitch.

The couple first listed their home – which sits on a 1300sq m block - for sale in 2019 before finally completing a deal on it this year.

$16.5m – Top floor, Ōrākei Rd apartment, Remuera

The Elm Remuera apartment complex's penthouse sold for $16.5m. Photo / Supplied

Not only does this penthouse offer views towards Rangitoto and Auckland city, but residents in the new complex can also swim year-round in a heated pool that comes with a luxury outdoor kitchenette and pavilion for lazy lunches.

“It’s a record for a single apartment sale in New Zealand,” according to records kept with analysts CoreLogic, the company’s research head, Nick Goodall, said.

The penthouse sits on the top floor of the new Elm Remeura complex and was one of 13 apartments selling for $57m in the complex, developer Martin Cooper said.

$16m – Arney Rd, Remuera

This Arney Rd home in Remuera fetched $16m in June this year. Photo / Supplied

This sleek, modernist Remeura mansion in Arney Rd sold in June for 2022′s third most expensive recorded price of $16m.

It features a palm tree-surrounded pool and flowing, three-storey columns bracing its outer walls that give off a palatial appearance.

Previously owned by Wayne Leach and a trust connected to Andy Doole, the home has now been sold to a trust related to Ran Wen and Chen Sun, according to property records.

Leach has owned Winger Motors Ltd - one of New Zealand’s largest car automotive dealership networks that includes a luxury Maserati showroom - for more than 30 years.

$13m – Point Wells Rd, Point Wells

This Point Wells lifestyle block was one of the most expensive properties sold this year. Photo / Property Value

This 4.4ha property, near Omaha, includes a huge swathe of tranquil, waterfront land as well as its own orchard of fruit trees.

Also coming with a large, 150sq m home and the potential for future development, it was bought by Anthony and Barbara Gorton in January for $13m, according to property records.

$12.2m - Victoria Ave, Remuera

The site on Victoria Ave, Remuera, was formerly a convent. Photo / Property Value

Once a convent run by the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny, this collection of buildings and huge 2819sq m property in Remuera was sold last year for $10.7m to a development company linked to Vandana Bhatia and Sanjeev, who also own a collection of childcare centres.

However, the property was then onsold this July to Michelle Tingjia Wu, Wei Zou and Yumin Jin for $12.18m.

It was marketed in 2021 as having serious development potential after the Sisters previously owned it for 70 years.

$12m - Remuera Rd, Remuera

This huge, stately home on Remuera Rd sold this year. Photo / OneRoof

Richlister Murray Bolton made headlines late last year when he won the right to travel to America by private jet and then self-isolate at his Herne Bay home at a time when Kiwis were required to spend time in a managed isolation facility.

Bolton is a director of US-based company Xplor Technologies that was about to list on the New York Stock Exchange and he argued in court that he needed to attend a crucial two-day board meeting to promote New Zealand’s economic interests.

At the time, Kiwis were required to spend time in MIQ facilities when returning to the country, however they faced long and uncertain waits booking rooms as part of the Government’s lottery system.

Bolton consequently took the Government to court and won the decision, saying he was sticking up for Kiwis’ human rights, while the Government accused him of using his wealth to buy a ticket to the front of the queue.

Now property records show Bolton and Jo-Anne Bolton have also earned a $12m payday after this year selling a 1774sq m property in Remuera to Shuzhao Li Goodall in May.

It was not the home Bolton isolated in upon his return to Auckland.

$11.6m - Upland Rd, Remuera

This Upland Rd Remuera home fetched $11.6m in April. Photo / Supplied

Labelled an “iconic family residence” in its marketing material, this Remuera home features five bedrooms and a huge 2979sq m garden with a pool, orchard and tennis court.

Anna and Robin Milne are the new owners after the April sale, according to property records.

$11.6m - Arney Rd, Remuera

This "charming" Arney Rd home in Remuera sold for $11.6m. Photo / Supplied.

Marketed as a charming trophy that was originally built around 1900, this five-bedroom villa features views to Rangitoto and spacious gardens.

According to property records, Anne and David Norman – the heads of the James Pascoe Group of Companies that includes retailer Farmers – are joint owners of the home along with two others.

$11.4m - Ranui Rd, Remuera

This Ranui Rd home in Remuera sold for $11.4m in May. Photo / Google

This house dating back to 1910 has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, a heated swimming pool with pool house and even a secret cellar.

It sold on May 19 with Ulmer Trustee Services, associated with Peter and Stephanie Ulmer, buying it.

$11m – homes in Remuera, Kumeū, Tauranga and Christchurch

Rounding out the top 10 sales in 2022 are four homes across the country that sold for $11m each, including a sleek, gated five-bedroom Remuera home, a huge riverfront property in Kumeū, a futuristic-looking Mt Maunganui home and another riverfront home in Christchurch.