My bach: John Key

John Key's beach property at Omaha is now worth more than $3 million. Photo / APN

When John Key bought his holiday home on Omaha's Success Court 23 years ago, he probably had no idea how apt the street name would turn out to be.

The now-Prime Minister was at the time heading the 30-strong dealing room of the Auckland-based Bankers Trust and not yet a member of the National Party.

The 52-year-old and wife Bronagh, who have a daughter, Stephie, and son, Max, bought a piece of beachfront land in 1990 for $147,000. The 240sq m white, stucco home they built on the section is now worth more than $3 million.

A spokeswoman for Mr Key told the Herald the family will spend their holidays this year at their $5.6 million townhouse on the southern side of Maui in Hawaii.

"The Prime Minister heads to Omaha as often as he can. It's a stunningly beautiful beach, a great place to really relax and one of the great things about it is that it is so close to Auckland. At Omaha the Prime Minister likes to relax with his family and friends, play a bit of golf and spend time on the beach."

Posing in front of the house in shorts and T-shirt for the Herald on Sunday in 2007 - a year before he became the 38th prime minister of New Zealand - Mr Key said he used to keep a picture of the place on his desk when he was based in London as a foreign exchange trader.

One of his neighbours had just sold his place for $3 million.

"This is expensive real estate," he said.

"We used to use it quite a bit, but now very infrequently. It's a function of the amount of time you have to put into the job."

The Keys' main home is their multimillion-dollar mansion in Parnell's St Stephen's Ave.