Snapping up luxury buys

Bayleys agent David Rainbow, who specialises in luxury homes in Remuera, said this is his best start to a year in a long time. Photo / Richard Robinson

Luxury houses at the top end of the property market are selling fast, with renewed interest in multi-million-dollar homes.

Figures from the Real Estate Institute show there were 166 such sales in central Auckland in January and February, up from 130 in the same period last year.

There is some way to go before the market reaches the frenzied heights of 2007, when 268 million-dollar mansions were sold in Auckland in January and February.

But Bayleys agent David Rainbow, who specialises in luxury homes in Remuera, said this is his best start to a year in a long time.

He sold three pieces of prime real estate worth $12 million in two days in the past month as the economy continues to bounce back from recession.

One property, on Remuera's Upland Rd, sold for $4 million on the first day on the market. "A lot of people are more seriously looking now," said Rainbow.

Research in Australia predicts a 10 to 15 per cent rise in the cost of prestigious homes.

Rainbow is cautious about a similar increase here but said there was strong interest from Kiwis returning from long periods overseas and Australians moving to New Zealand.

Rainbow said four of 10 viewers who attended an open home for a $1.5 million house in Remuera returned for a second look.

"It's been fantastic, this has been the best in a long time."

In neighbouring Parnell, Bayleys agent Gary Wallace said sales of $4 million-plus properties were "thin on the ground" in the past couple of years, but last month he sold three properties worth $10 million in 10 days.

Top agent Michael Boulgaris has also seen an increased interest in multi-million-dollar homes.

He recently sold a five-bedroom Georgian-style mansion on Lammermoor Drive in St Heliers for $8 million.

Boulgaris said the sale was the highest price reached in Auckland's eastern suburbs since the start of the recession.

He had noticed an increase in international buyers, particularly the Chinese, wanting to buy million-dollar homes here.

Bayleys agent Karen Spires has also had several million-dollar sales in the Herne Bay and St Mary's Bay area.

"People are continually coming back to New Zealand with money - and they've got big money to spend."

Despite the agents' optimism, analysts say an increase in top-end sales would not necessarily translate to a recovery in the market as a whole.

James Young, director of Auckland University's real estate research unit, said market growth tends to be driven by first home buyers.

"These things don't bounce back overnight and there are a lot of false starts."

Quotable Value research director Jono Ingerson said sales for the top 10 per cent of houses amounted to 10 per cent of total sales in 2008 but fell to less than 8 per cent last year.

anna.rushworth@hos.co.nz