100-Year-Old New Zealand Mansion Lists For $8.2 Million
The home is one of the largest historic homes in the Wellington suburb of Khandallah, and boasts a 4,000-bottle wine cellar
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One of the largest historic and most recognisable homes in a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, has hit the market for NZ$9 million (A$8.2 million).
Located in Khandallah, about 8km north of Wellington, the 720sqm residence was designed by a prominent local architect Joseph Dawson and completed in 1929.
“It retains a high level of exterior authenticity in design, craftsmanship and materials,” according to Wellington Heritage, a local preservation group. “This house has significant townscape values; it is a local landmark that contributes greatly to the character and sense of place in Khandallah.”
Known as Box Hill, the Neo Georgian-style abode is also significant because it was built for local luminary Robert Barnes Gibbons. He was a car importer for the Colonial Motors Company, and the first to bring the Ford brand to New Zealand, according to Anthony Morsinkhof of PQ Property Intelligence/Forbes Global Properties, who listed the property earlier this month.
“It is one of the largest historic residential properties in Wellington,” Mr. Morsinkhof said in an email. “Khandallah is close to Wellington [central business district], with extraordinary views of the harbor…it is considered one of the most prestigious suburbs of Wellington.”
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom mansion has been a popular spot for social gatherings over the years, the agent added. It features an entrance hall clad in Queensland maple—a local species also known as red beech—with a grand staircase, and oak-paneled reception rooms and surrounding park-like grounds, according to the listing. There’s also a dining room that can seat about 100 guests.
“The icing on the cake in the entertainment realm is to discover that Box Hill is blessed with one of the best private home wine cellars, with capacity for 4,000 bottles stored in humidity and temperature-controlled conditions,” according to the listing.
The home last sold in 2006 for NZ$1.85 million, according to records with Propertyvalue, CoreLogic’s property website in New Zealand. The sellers were not immediately available for comment.
Wellington’s luxury housing market slipped in the first quarter of 2022, according to Mr. Morsinkhof. Both the number of transactions and the prices have dropped, with the median price of a home priced over NZ$3 million falling to NZ$3.3 million, compared to NZ$4.23 million at the same time last year.
“The Covid outbreak peaked in this period and many people were—due to isolation requirements—not able to leave their homes and buy or sell property,” Mr. Morsinkhof said. “However, since the loosening of Covid restrictions at the end of March we are seeing significant increase in inquiries for high-end property.”
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Ray White’s chief economist outlines her predictions for housing market trends in 2024
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Ray White’s chief economist, Nerida Conisbee says property price growth will continue next year and mortgage holders will need to “survive until 2025” amid expectations of higher interest rates for longer.
Ms Conisbee said strong population growth and a housing supply shortage combatted the impact of rising interest rates in 2023, leading to unusually strong price growth during a rate hiking cycle. The latest CoreLogic data shows home values have increased by more than 10 percent in the year to date in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Among the regional markets, price growth has been strongest in regional South Australia with 8.6 percent growth and regional Queensland at 6.9 percent growth.
“As interest rates head close to peak, it is expected that price growth will continue. At this point, housing supply remains extremely low and many people that would be new home buyers are being pushed into the established market,” Ms Conisbee said. “Big jumps in rents are pushing more first home buyers into the market and population growth is continuing to be strong.”
Ms Conisbee said interest rates will be higher for longer due to sticky inflation. “… we are unlikely to see a rate cut until late 2024 or early 2025. This means mortgage holders need to survive until 2025, paying far more on their home loans than they did two years ago.”
Buyers in coastal areas currently have a window of opportunity to take advantage of softer prices, Ms Conisbee said. “Look out for beach house bargains over summer but you need to move quick. In many beachside holiday destinations, we saw a sharp rise in properties for sale and a corresponding fall in prices. This was driven by many pandemic driven holiday home purchases coming back on to the market.”
3 key housing market trends for 2024
Here are three of Ms Conisbee’s predictions for the key housing market trends of 2024.
Luxury apartment market to soar
Ms Conisbee said the types of apartments being built have changed dramatically amid more people choosing to live in apartments longer-term and Australia’s ageing population downsizing. “Demand is increasing for much larger, higher quality, more expensive developments. This has resulted in the most expensive apartments in Australia seeing price increases more than double those of an average priced apartment. This year, fewer apartments being built, growing population and a desire to live in some of Australia’s most sought-after inner urban areas will lead to a boom in luxury apartment demand.”
Homes to become even greener
The rising costs of energy and the health impacts of heat are two new factors driving interest in green homes, Ms Conisbee said. “Having a greener home utilising solar and batteries makes it cheaper to run air conditioning, heaters and pool pumps. We are heading into a particularly hot summer and having homes that are difficult to cool down makes them far more dangerous for the elderly and very young.”
More people living alone
For some time now, long-term social changes such as delayed marriage and an ageing population have led to more people living alone. However, Ms Conisbee points out that the pandemic also showed that many people prefer to live alone for lifestyle reasons. “Shorter term, the pandemic has shown that given the chance, many people prefer to live alone with a record increase in single-person households during the time. This trend may influence housing preferences, with a potential rise in demand for smaller dwellings and properties catering to individuals rather than traditional family units.”
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
