Millionaires' row not so hot

Paritai Drive in Auckland. Photo / Janna Dixon

To some, it was New Zealand's most prestigious address. It was certainly the most expensive. But 10 years on, the reputation of Paritai Drive has been blighted by architectural eyesores, warring neighbours and even an exploding P-lab.

Now sometimes dubbed "Parasite Drive", Kestutis Stasys Kripas and Jennifer Best are so keen to sell up they are asking $1 million less than their luxury property's capital valuation.

The real estate agent acting for them declined to comment on the street's fall from grace.

But former resident and ex-mayor John Banks said there was always a less attractive and tackier side to Millionaires' Row.

"Mainly in the form of tourist buses," he said. "There would be one every 20 minutes going past at walking pace. I came home from work one day to find a mini-bus full of Japanese visitors had climbed the fence and had their feet in my swimming pool."

Paritai Drive seemed like a prestigious address when his family first moved in, Banks said.

"We were like the hillbillies from Whangarei arriving - Paritai Drive was one of the great streets of New Zealand. When I was younger, I slept rough in the Auckland Domain. To then be able to live on Paritai Drive really shows this is the land of milk, honey and opportunity - if you're prepared to work hard for it."

At the nearby Orakei shops, the local butcher said it was troubled financier Mark Hotchin and his vast super-mansion that "killed it" for the street.

But records show Paritai's glory was fading long before the Hanover boss abandoned his $37 million pile-of-rubble development.

Six years ago a man was critically injured in a house explosion where a large scale P manufacturing operation was taking place. A 3-year-old child was in the house at the time.

The current owner said the property was in a state of disrepair when she bought it - with bars across the windows, deadlocks on the bedroom doors and "axe wounds" in the walls. "Squatters had lived here for a long time," she said.

Down the road, a multi-million dollar pad at No 9 was abandoned 10 years ago, the absentee owner leaving the property to run wild.

The next door neighbour has said: "Squatters started a fire just before Christmas and the police contacted the owner but I haven't seen anyone in the house in months."

And, despite the wealth of the area, the leaky building crisis caught several victims.

In 2009, bed-baron Craig Turner, who started Sleepyhead, had to vacate his pink Palladio-style home at No 78 because, according to council records, "it was no longer healthy to occupy".

Documents held by the council indicated a lack of watertightness had caused structural damage - and estimated the repair bill at between $500,000 and $800,000.

The street has also attracted its share of lousy tenants. One landlord, Gino Gurshin, spent two years battling through the Tenancy Tribunal to collect $19,000 in outstanding rent owed on No 22. Gurshin sold the property last year for $2.31m.

And property developer Jimmy Kirkpatrick is currently at war with Westpac chief executive George Frazis over a disputed $134,000 in unpaid rent.

With Paritai Drive having lost its gloss, real estate favourites now include Remuera's Victoria Ave and Arney Rd, Cliff Rd in St Heliers, Minnehaha Ave in Takapuna and John Key's street, St Stephens Ave in Parnell.

Property writer Stephen Hart, the author of Where To Live in Auckland, said Marine Parade in Herne Bay had well and truly taken over Paritai Drive in the wealth stakes.

"Herne Bay is the most expensive by a country mile," he said.

"The average sale price there is $2 million, which is double what Remuera is."

Two years ago, an "extremely run down" property on Marine Parade had sold for $8.1 million.

Big buy bargains to be had
Some of New Zealand's hottest properties are up for grabs at bargain basement prices, with vendors ready to accept offers millions below valuation.

An ocean view home on Paritai Drive has a capital value of $2.6 million but is being advertised from $1.5m.

And the Rakino Island estate that housed America's Next Top Model during its New Zealand stay is on the market for about $7m - down from $11m.

This five-bedroom, five-bathroom getaway is a mere seven minute helicopter trip from Auckland and comes with the windfall of pre-arranged Rugby World Cup bookings, worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Real estate agent Ross Hawkins said the "substantial correction" in the price of the property was a result of the property market slow down.

Top-of-the-line slices of land are also going cheaply. Eleven lots of prime waterfront land at Mangawhai, an hour north of Auckland, are selling between $600,000 and $1.1m - half the price similar land was going for 12 months ago.

Realestate.co.nz's chief executive Alastair Helm said the $1m-to-$3m housing market had continued to perform well despite the overall market suffering during the financial crisis.

But in the higher price brackets, there was a much smaller pool of potential buyers, which meant vendors needed to be patient.