Auckland's most expensive street, Cremorne St, with the mansion owned by Simon and Paula Herbert in the foreground. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Auckland's most expensive street, Cremorne St, with the mansion owned by Simon and Paula Herbert in the foreground. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Auckland’s Cremorne St has proven it may as well be paved in gold - retaining its title as the city’s most expensive street.
The coastal road stretches just 150m - or a two minute stroll - but it’s 15 luxury mansions are on average worth $11.3 million each.
That’s accordingto the latest Auckland Council valuations released yesterday.
Helping push up Cremorne St’s average values are its famous clifftop mansions, including developer Simon Herbert and wife Paula’s helipad-equipped home bought for $30m in 2018.
The Rise in St Heliers, near Auckland’s eastern waterfront, is the second most expensive street with homes valued at an average $8.6m.
Remuera’s Westbury Crescent ranks third with its 13 homes recording an average $7.8m CV.
Despite the homes costing what would seem an astronomical amount for most Aucklanders, values along these exclusive streets have fallen since the last CVs were released in 2021.
Cremorne St’s average home value has dropped $1.3m compared to the last CVs, while The Rise’s homes are down $712,000 and Westbury Cr homes dipped $67,000.
Auckland Council’s chief finance officer Ross Tucker said the average home value across the city had dropped 9% since the 2021 CVs.
That’s because “the economy and property market generally” had “trended down” over that time, he said.
While Cremorne St is widely considered the street with the highest average home price, there is technically a street with higher prices that is located very close by.
Herne Bay’s Wairangi St is just 100m from Cremorne St and has three homes on it with an average CV of $12.1m.
It is often not included in lists of the most expensive streets, however, as it has so few homes.
Among suburbs, Herne Bay is also the most valuable, with its homes recording an average $3.47m CV - down $346,000 compared to 2021.
Northern retirement and holiday hotspot Ōmaha is Auckland’s second most expensive suburb at $3.05m, while Saint Marys Bay in the inner west ranks next at $2.91m.
That’s followed by Okura Bush, near Silverdale, on $2.76m and then Remuera on $2.75m.
St Heliers has some of the most exclusive streets in the city, such as The Rise where its mansions have an average CV of $7.94m. Photo / Supplied
As revealed yesterday, the city’s most expensive home is now worth $72.5m.
The mega mansion, owned by exporter Deyi “Stone” Shi on Huriaro Place in Ōrākei, jumped $14.5m from its 2021 valuation of $58m - bucking the city-wide trend of lower prices.
Billionaire Graeme Hart’s Riddell Rd home in Glendowie was the second most valuable home at $48m, although its CV had dropped from the $52m value of 2021.
Overall, Auckland’s 10 most expensive homes are now worth just over $429m combined, according to the new valuation figures.
The CVs are supposed to happen every three years and involve a revaluation of all 630,000 properties across the city.
Remuera's Westbury Cr is among the city's most expensive streets. Photo / Michael Craig
Luxury real estate agent Graham Wall from Wall Real Estate told property website OneRoof CVs didn’t matter much for home buyers.
He pointed to the Ōrākei home owned by Shi and valued by council at $72m, saying it was impossible to buy the mansion for less than $80m today.
Wall said council valuations that were largely done with automated software often didn’t take account of nuances such as the view or interior design.
The CVs are a massive source of fascination for property-mad Aucklanders when it comes to buying and selling homes.
Property experts said they should be taken with a grain of salt and what was more important was the value that buyers were willing to pay.
Tucker said CVs were not for estimating the current market value of properties or for mortgage and insurance purposes, but to share rates between properties.
For a start, the CVs are based on valuations as of May 1, 2024 - which are more than a year old.
Auckland Council already knows ahead of time how much money it plans to collect through rates and the CVs are a way to try to ensure everyone pays a fair share.
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