– A mansion on Paritai Drive sold for over $20m, but just under its $21.5m RV.
– The Auckland buyers closed the deal in under two weeks after discovering it in May.
– Owners Sanjeev Gupta and Vandana Bhatia had extensively upgraded the property since purchasing it in 2016.
A striking mansion on Auckland’s Paritai Drive has sold for over $20 million in a lightning-fast deal, OneRoof can reveal.
The trophy home had been on the market since 2023, but the buyers spotted it in May and closed a deal less than two weeks later.
OneRoof understands that the sale price was just under the property’s RV of $21.5m.
New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty listing agents Paul Sissons and Nico Zhang declined to comment on the price, telling OneRoof they were bound by confidentiality agreements.
The centrepiece of the rebuild is the curved oak staircase that climbs three levels and took its Singapore-based creators two years to build. Photo / Supplied
The owners called on architects from New York and Singapore to rebuild the 900sqm house, a project that took five years. Photo / Supplied
However, Sissons was able to say that the Auckland-based buyers had moved quickly. “They came through once, came back again and fell in love with it,” he said.
“We put the deal together within two weeks. Both parties were very happy.”
A long settlement period gave the buyers time to convert part of the mansion’s six-car garage into a luxurious gym, ready to use from day one of ownership.
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Sissons said that despite the property being on the market several times over the past two years, the buyers only came across it in May.
“People’s lives can change in a few weeks. They aren’t looking, and then all of a sudden we show them something. With property, you either love it or not so much. But when you love it, bang, the deal is done.”
Sissons, who sold an Italian-style mansion on Paritai Drive last year for just under $22m, said there were so few sales on the prestigious street that gauging price was challenging.
Other agents who took on the listing before Sissons had predicted that the property could fetch $30m.
At 106sqm the master bedroom suite, with views over the city and water, is as large as many New Zealand homes. Photo / Supplied
The owners, Sanjeev Gupta and Vandana Bhatia, had bought the Ron Sang-designed house from property mogul James Kirkpatrick for $10m in 2016.
They spent five years upgrading and refitting the house, a project that involved completely rebuilding the interior and adding a pool house, six-car garaging and staff accommodation.
The couple hired architects from New York and Singapore who reimagined the glass and concrete shell, furnishing it with Italian travertine stone and marble and installing a hand-carved oak staircase as the centrepiece of the home.
The property also has a bunker and boasts state-of-the-art security and automation. There is even a gold-satin finished elevator.
The couple told OneRoof in June last year that they had scoured the globe in their quest to source the perfect finishes and accoutrements, and were also inspired by time spent while staying at the world’s most lavish hotels.
A four-bedroom, new-build mansion for sale at 32 Tuhaere Street, in Orakei, Auckland, is attracting overseas interest. Photo / Supplied
Also up for grabs at neighbouring 36 Paritai Drive is an older five-bedroom home with a $13m RV. Photo / Supplied
“We wanted something amazing,” they said.
“The materials were a mission to source and took a long time. We used Roman travertine right through the inside and rare pieces, like the Amazonite in the lobby.”
Paritai Drive and neighbouring streets are home to some of New Zealand’s most expensive properties.
Bayleys agent Sarah Liu, who has three listings on Paritai Drive and another on Tuhaere Street, said high-end buyers, with as much as $40m to spend, were circling the market.
Some of her overseas clients had New Zealand residency and could buy straight away, but others were looking in anticipation of a change in the foreign buyer rules later this year, she said.
She agreed with Sissons that high-end buyers acted quickly when they spotted the right place. “In the first viewing, they already have that feeling, they know that this is what they want. At the second viewing, they will ask all the detailed questions,” she told OneRoof.
“If they like it, they put in an offer straight away,” she said, adding that negotiations may then take several days or up to weeks to close if the buyer or seller is overseas.
She said she has had several offers for a dramatic home she is marketing with colleague Nick Gilbert at 32 Tuhaere Street.
While she could not indicate the likely price of the sculpture-like four-bedroom house, she said buyers know that it would cost between $15,000 and $20,000 per square metre to build.
She said she was also fielding offers for an older five-bedroom house at 36 Paritai Drive, which has an RV of $13m.