– John and Michael Chow are seeking over $10m for their Auckland mansion at 5 Fenton Circus.
– The luxury property features five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a gym, and a wine cellar.
– Barfoot & Thompson agents are quietly on the hunt for a buyer for the resort-like home.
Rich-lister property developers John and Michael Chow are quietly on the hunt for someone to buy their multimillion-dollar mansion in Auckland’s Orakei.
The luxury five-bedroom property at 5 Fenton Circus overlooks the harbour and boasts clear views of Rangitoto. The Chow brothers bought it over 12 years ago for $6.65 million, but have decided to sell now that it no longer suits their needs.
The Chows, who are business partners with former Prime Minister Sir John Key and his son Max, are seeking a buyer with over $10m to spend (the property has an RV of $12.75m).
John, left, and Michael Chow have grown their fortune in New Zealand through property development. Photo / Dean Purcell
The brothers bought the luxury home at 5 Fenton Circus in 2012 for just under $7m. Photo / Supplied
The Chows first listed the home in March 2024, but pulled it from the open market some months later before relisting with a new agency this year.
Barfoot & Thompson agents John Zhang and Louissa Bao relaunched the home in March with a slick campaign, but since June, they have been quietly seeking buyers, having pulled the property from public view.
“It’s a quiet listing,” Zhang told OneRoof. “We have had interest from mainland Chinese, but a lot of them still have money overseas. Even if the foreign buyer [ban] changes, there is still an issue of getting their money out [of China].”
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Zhang said that Michael Chow and his wife lived at 5 Fenton Circus, but since their children had grown up and left the nest, the resort-like home, which boasts four bathrooms, a games room, a media room, a gym, and a wine cellar, had become too big for just two people.
He added that many of the people who looked at the house since March were wealthy locals, but with their own houses to sell, they were not in a position to buy.
“We’re still contacting all the people who have viewed the property to see if there are any changes to their financial situation.”
The property is the main residence of Michael Chow and his wife, but has become too big for them now that their children have grown up and left. Photo / Supplied
The home boasts stunning views of Auckland harbour and Rangitoto. Photo / Supplied
The agent also said that while the 18-year-old house was very stylish, some buyers were looking at renovating the kitchen or bathrooms.
Bayleys agent Sarah Liu told OneRoof that she had buyers from Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as America and England, making serious inquiries about the new-build mansion at neighbouring 32 Tuhaere Street she is marketing with colleague Nick Gilbert.
She said accessing overseas funds was a challenge for some Chinese buyers who had residency in New Zealand. “It is getting harder and harder to transfer money,” she said, noting that a deal on another property on nearby Paritai Drive fell over because of that very issue.
Of 32 Tuhaere Street, Liu said it was so new that the current $4.05m RV was for the land only and did not include the 690sqm luxury build. “I get people asking, ‘Can I buy it for $7m?’ and I say ‘sorry no’. It would cost $15,000 to 20,000 per square metre to build, so that’s a $10m to $14m build cost. It’s a collector’s piece, an artwork or a sculpture.”
The four-bedroom, new-build mansion for sale at 32 Tuhaere Street, in Orakei, Auckland, is attracting overseas interest. Photo / Supplied
11 Tuhaere Street, in Orakei, has been for sale since May but now has an asking price of $5.995m. Photo / Supplied
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins, who also sells in Orakei, said he was aware of quiet listings in his patch, but he wasn’t a fan of them. “You can’t sell a secret. There’s an opportunity right now to have your house on the market before the spring market, when there is more competition,” he said.
Hawkins said he would rather price a property than pull it off the market, particularly in the Paritai Drive area of Orakei, where he said there were buyers now taking a long-term view of holding valuable land in the blue-chip precinct.
One of his listings, 11 Tuahare Street, has been on the market since May, but Hawkins has now priced it at $5.995m to catch buyers’ eyes.