This Newton Road property, Oneroa, Waiheke Island, sold for $9m in April. Photo / Supplied
This Newton Road property, Oneroa, Waiheke Island, sold for $9m in April. Photo / Supplied
Faced with travel uncertainty overseas and the memories of lockdowns at home, New Zealanders had one impulse: head to the beach.
New Zealanders splashed out an impressive $14 billion on beachside holiday homes since the pandemic, according to a report from OneRoof.
On Monday, the property magazine’s Summer Issue revealed that just under half of these sea-side property sales (45 per cent) were second homes and holiday baches.
Despite grinding to a halt in March and April, sales peaked in November 2020 with 910 coastal baches sold, almost twice the average rate pre-pandemic.
This beachside property boom showed that after extended lockdowns a lot more Kiwis were looking for a home away from home.
However, sales also showed that some beachgoers experienced the pandemic differently, and had a lot more to spend on a dream bach by the beach. In a list of the most expensive beach-side properties, there is one stretch of sand that keeps on cropping up.
Waiheke Island was home to 5 of the top 10 slots for New Zealand’s most expensive beach houses.
The golden sands of Oneroa Beach took three of the top four slots. With two properties selling for over $10.25 million in the last 18 months, it was New Zealand’s most expensive place to buy. Beach houses here sell for more than in Malibu.
Aerial view of Oneroa Bay in Waiheke Island, Auckland / New Zealand
Described as the ‘Hamptons of New Zealand’ for its celebrity visitors and expensive holiday homes, Waiheke’s north-facing Sea View Road in Ostend also saw two properties on the list - at $8.45 million and $8.225 million each.
While Waiheke was undisputed champion of New Zealand’s most expensive holiday homes - there were some challengers.
The beachy burb of Omaha, north Auckland, listed three of the most expensive beaches on the list. The sales from the last 24 months priced between $9.1m and $7.7m. Slightly cheaper than Waiheke, it still won’t leave you with much change from $10m or a winning lottery ticket.
The outlier on the list was in the favourite summer holiday destination of Whangamata.
The house on the Coromandel Peninsula rounded out the top 10, costing $7.41 million.
NZ’S MOST EXPENSIVE BEACH HOMES
The highest settled sale prices for beach homes in NZ, omitting street numbers for privacy:
$10.25m, Ocean View Road, Onerao, Waiheke, November 2021
$10.25m, Alan Murray lane, Oneroa, Waiheke, June 2021
$9.1m, Kutai Lane, Omaha, Auckland, March 2022
$9m, Newton Road, Oneroa, Waiheke Island, April 2022
Where are New Zealand’s most popular beachside holiday towns?
While these most expensive beach homes might be out of most holidaymakers’ budgets, the OneRoof report also revealed the beach towns with the highest proportion of second homes.
Out of 251 coastal towns surveyed by OneRoof and data partner Valocity, Te Araroa, Gisborne was found to be New Zealands’ most popular beach for second homes - with 83 per cent of all buildings being holiday baches.
This was followed closely by Taharoa, Waitomo on the west coast at 82 per cent.
By contrast, Cape Palliser in the South Wairarapa was roughly half-and-half - with 49 per cent of beachside properties listed as primary residences.
One Roof Editor Owen Vaughn said that low interest rates and closed borders fuelled a surge in demand for second homes.
“It’s clear from the prices being paid that some locations are more popular than others and that the luxury end of the market has done extremely well,” he said.
If you were looking for a bach on the on the bargain end of the spectrum, OneRoof said the West Coast was the place to look, with a median purchase price of less than $500,000 for a second home. However, it was Waipapakauri, Northland which had the lowest asking price over all, with a median of $130,000 for a property overlooking the Rangaunu Harbour.
