The Remuera mansion owned by Sir Bob Owens and his second wife, Lady Owens, was sold last month. The purchase by an overseas buyer required OIO approval.
The widow of late transport magnate Sir Bob Owens has sold their Auckland mansion to overseas buyers for just over $9 million, OneRoof can reveal.
Lady Owens listed the two-storey house at the bottom of Remuera’s “Golden Mile” in March, more than 25 years after Sir Bob’s death.
Bayleys listing agent Gary Wallace said the four-bedroom property on Victoria Ave had attracted strong interest, but some of the offers tabled did not meet the family’s expectations.
A deal was eventually struck with an overseas buyer, but the purchase required approval from the Overseas Investment Office. The green light was given last month after a three-week wait.
Wallace said the property settled in December, with the buyer now “going through what the best outcome for the property is, whether they would renovate”. The agent declined to give the exact sale price but indicated it was just below the RV of $9.5m.
He said those who viewed the mansion were impressed by its blue-chip address, harbour views and proximity to the city’s top schools. Some had looked at carving up the 1540sq m site, while others planned to replace the house with a modern trophy home.
“People felt the site was valuable, so they wanted to respect that. The existing home has quite a lot of character, but [the feedback from the experts] was that it was probably better to build new.”
Sir Bob and Lady Owens bought the 1950s-built mansion in the mid-1980s, after Sir Bob’s tenure as mayor of Tauranga and Mount Maunganui.
Lady Owens, Sir Bob’s second wife, who is now in her 80s, told OneRoof earlier this year: “As soon as we walked in the gate, we knew that this was the right house for us. We absolutely loved it.”
The couple were keen entertainers, and made the most of the enormous ground-floor living room and separate dining room for formal dinners and extended family occasions.
“I have lots of lovely memories – especially about some of the well-known people who came and stayed with us. It’s a very special place."
Wallace said most buyers for higher-priced properties in Remuera were looking for turnkey properties, where the work had already been done.
“If you present the property and there is literally no money to spend on it, it ticks all the boxes. There’s a ton of money for that type of property,” he told OneRoof.
“If you get a couple of those high-end sales, then it seems to release the brakes a wee bit and give people the confidence to spend. And certainly with New Zealand’s unique [position] in that very luxury top end, some of that money can come in.
“Super high-net-worth people are going to write the cheque now that we’ve got the Government saying that they can come in and spend.”
Last month, OneRoof reported that a sprawling estate on nearby Arney Rd sold for about $40m, and this month came reports that rich-lister property developer Ben Cook had sold his waterfront Herne Bay mansion for $35m.
Another Herne Bay mansion, owned by property developers Simon and Paula Herbert, is on the market and could break the $50m ceiling.
A couple of houses down from Lady Owens’ mansion, Barfoot & Thompson agent James Doole has listed a waterfront property built by celebrated New Zealand architect Vernon Brown.
Doole describes the stretch of Victoria Ave that runs down to Hobson Bay and Wilson’s Beach as a “secret corner” and highly coveted by those in the know.
He knows the spot well as he used to live next door to his current listing. “These places don’t come on the market very often. Number 334 has been in the family for 27 years.”
The home at 334 Victoria Ave boasts Brown’s distinctive dark-stained timber and light-filled rooms, a complete break from the pseudo-English look then favoured in the suburb.
The property, which has an RV of $9.3m, benefited from a massive renovation in 2006, extending its footprint to 284sq m over two floors.
“There is exciting upside potential for buyers seeking to reimagine the property with a 2025-level fitout,” Doole says in his listing for the property, which is being sold as a deceased estate. He calls it a “piece of architectural and cultural history”.
Interest had been high. “It’s not your traditional big-with-large-lawn family home. The right buyer is absolutely going to fall in love.”
“We’re also seeing a steady rise in offshore inquiries, returning expats seeking stability, schooling and lifestyle.
“We have had a few cashed-up offshore buyers engaging strongly, particularly in that $10m market, but a lot of them are waiting for clarity on [the Government’s foreign buyer] policy.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Remuera on OneRoof.co.nz