"We're keeping as up to date as we possibly can.
"I'm very pleased, anything is better than what we had.
"I will believe it when I hear it from his mouth. I don't know if he'll go quietly, I don't know if he'll step down."
Mr Stobart said he had been waiting for this news for the last 17-18 years but had thought it would be because Mr Mugabe had died, not been overthrown.
"I didn't actually expect this to happen."
Mr Stobart said he would like to see Mr Mnangagwa take over the country because, although he is ruthless and has blood on his hands, he has enough of a reputation to get the country back on track.
Zimbabwe's future needs more law and order, a refreshed police force, a cut-down on government expenditure, a cut of civil service and more effort in attracting foreign investment, he said.
The Stobarts moved to New Zealand in 2004 after they were kicked off their 2000ha mixed crop farm near Harare in 2003 by "one of the Mugabe thugs".
"We were given a week's notice to get off the farm and that's it."
The couple decided to move to New Zealand because Mr Stobart had met several New Zealanders and heard about the country while on a Nuffield Scholarship in 1991.
"We felt like it would be a good fit for us."
They still have family in Zimbabwe and visit every year, last going back in June.
They had not heard from relatives since the coup but as far as they were aware it was peaceful and not much had changed for civilians, Mr Stobart said.
While under house arrest Mugabe is resisting mediation by a Catholic priest, Fidelis Mukonori, to allow the former guerrilla a graceful exit after the military takeover.
Mugabe, still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power destroyed one of Africa's most promising states.