KEY POINTS:
Tall poppies are spending up large as developers continue to reap rich pickings at the high end of the property market.
With crippling interest rates and a downturn in sales affecting most of the market, the wealthy are still buying and selling with abandon.
Property investor Mike McCombie said those at the top end had the money required to make soaring interest rates a minor matter.
"For a lot of them it doesn't matter because they're not borrowing a lot to do it. They've got the cash - and large amounts of it."
McCombie said there was also a shortage of quality, large apartments being built.
"When they come up they're really happy to pay for them. They are in a different market."
White Heron Point in Parnell is a case in point.
Well-heeled buyers are flocking to the luxury development that takes its name from a famous hotel that once stood there.
Due to be finished by the end of the year, the apartments span two buildings, named Hobson and Judges after the picturesque bays they overlook on Auckland's waterfront.
About 60 per cent of the apartments have been sold off the plans costing from $1.75 million to $4.15m.
High-profile buyers include PGG Wrightson chief executive Craig Norgate, V8 racing guru Mark Petch and former Auckland mayor and breakfast cereal baron Dick Hubbard.
Petch said he was attracted to the quality of the project when he bought his penthouse in the Hobson building off the plans two years ago.
With 180 degree views of Auckland harbour, the extremely des res cost a touch under $5m.
Petch said there had been some doom and gloom around the property market.
"But I guess people who have enjoyed a lot of success and they've got money they're trying to do two things, they're trying to buy quality and position."
Norgate said he decide to sell the family home in Remuera after his children left.
"Only something this stunning would get my wife to move."
Hubbard and his wife, Diana, sold their home in Owens Rd, also Remuera, after they started feeling the "empty nest" syndrome too.
They bought a penthouse apartment on the top floor of the Judges building.
The couple can look forward to a European-style kitchen with granite bench tops and scullery.
Hubbard said they decided to buy after viewing plans. "I think in Auckland you always want to have views of the water."
He said he was looking forward to walks along Tamaki Drive and catching the bus into town.
Agent Deborah Kelland agreed there was plenty of hunger for high-quality property among the "helicopter crowd".
"They're prudent people, they see New Zealand is still a good buy.
"They're not so concerned about interest rates. They're not going to be stupid about it, but they want what they want."
Across Auckland, lawyer Billy Boyd said the time was right to build his new home in Herne Bay.
"The market place is predicting doom and gloom and sometimes they're self-fulfilling prophecies.
"The top end of the market is still as buoyant as it's ever been."
"Top end" takes on a whole new level of meaning at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in downtown Auckland where luxury apartments costing between $460,000 and $5.9m are nearing completion. The New Zealand Herald reported residents will have access to hotel facilities, but the Stamford Residences will be managed separately and have their own lobby, lifts and concierge.
