{"id":491005,"date":"2026-06-23T05:14:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/491005\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T05:14:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T05:14:09","slug":"the-prime-minister-will-have-the-very-best-ex-minister-on-the-security-at-dame-jacinda-arderns-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/491005\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Prime Minister will have the very best\u2019: Ex-minister on the security at Dame Jacinda Ardern\u2019s home"},"content":{"rendered":"

They said the property\u2019s security features would likely go far beyond the electronic gates, noting that a full assessment by security experts and police, under the instruction of ministerial services, would have been carried out.<\/p>\n

Such assessments were standard practice, they said, adding that Cabinet ministers would be entitled to a specific home security allowance of up to $4500 for system installation, plus up to $1000 a year for monitoring and maintenance.<\/p>\n

The ex-minister said their house had been kitted out with internal and external alarms, a panic system and a panic room, a locked gate and surveillance cameras that were monitored 24\/7.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Prime Minister will have the very best,\u201d they said, and security would be a priority for Ardern and her family, given that she received several death threats during her time as Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

\"DameDame Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford bought their home in Auckland’s Sandringham in 2018 for just over $1.7m. Photos \/ OneRoof<\/p>\n

The ex-minister said they had \u201ca dedicated panic room that was deadlocked either side\u201d and that the security system stayed with the house after they left Parliament.<\/p>\n

A high-end security system would be a bonus for a home that, according to agents selling in the area, would already be in high demand.<\/p>\n

\"OneRoofOneRoof has been told that the house would have been fitted with extra security when Dame Jacinda Ardern lived there.<\/p>\n

Jared Cooksley, owner of Ray White Mount Eden, who is not involved in the sale, said there was a shortage of good four-bedroom, two-bathroom properties in the Sandringham\/Mount Eden area.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe four-bedroom bungalow has a CV of $2.3m and is heading to auction on July 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe routinely have very good numbers for these [four-bed, two-bath] properties. They seem to be in hot demand at the moment,\u201d Cooksley told OneRoof.<\/p>\n

He said many buyers tossing up whether or not to renovate their own homes often looked at what was for sale and decided to buy something already done instead. \u201cThey\u2019re motivated by family situation, rather than market dynamics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DameDame Jacinda Ardern and her husband Clarke Gayford. The couple have enjoyed life in New York and Sydney since Ardern resigned in January 2023. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cooksley said in the current market, he encouraged buyers to sell first to give them certainty before they go house-hunting, because selling prices were \u201call over the place.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said the sweet spot in this area was properties at or just under the $2m mark.<\/p>\n

\"SydneySydney house prices have cooled in recent weeks, but homes in the city are much more expensive than those in Auckland. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ray White agent Robyn Ellson, who is also not involved in the sale, concurred. \u201cIt probably hits the sweet spot in the market in terms of what people want,\u201d she said. \u201cA well-presented, character bungalow, north-facing. It\u2019s got a nice look to it, it should perform well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ardern\u2019s Sandringham home has a CV of $2.3m, but Ellson said that prices in this segment of the market were nuanced, so it was hard to pick what the property would achieve at auction.<\/p>\n

\"RayRay White Jared Cooksley isn’t involved in the sale but said there was strong demand for four-bedroom family homes in the area. Photo \/ Fiona Goodall<\/p>\n

Sandringham house prices have been on a rollercoaster ride since Ardern and Gayford purchased the house in 2018. Back then, the average property value in the suburb was $1.12m; now it sits at $1.3m, an increase of only 16%, in line with the overall change in the Auckland market over the last eight years.<\/p>\n

However, the eight-year period also includes a 52% leap during the Covid boom and a 23% plunge during the market downturn. In the last three months, Sandringham property values have marginally improved (+0.2%), but they are still 5.4% below where they were a year ago, according to the latest OneRoof-Valocity figures.<\/p>\n

Harcourts national auctioneer Shane Cortese felt Ardern had made the right decision by taking the property to auction in the first instance because it was the best chance of getting a quick sale.<\/p>\n

Cortese said about 50% of auction properties were selling under the hammer within 23 days (the length of an auction campaign). Of those that passed in, 25% to 35% were selling within 14 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s considerably more than any other method of sale within the same time period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, auctions were only pulling in about one or two bidders per property, he said, although standout properties could attract four, five or six bidders. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of the exception where you have those big flyers at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cortese said a bit of give-and-take was often needed between the seller and buyer to get the auction sale over the line. \u201cIt\u2019s just a fair and true market at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m finding if both parties are a little bit elastic with their expectations … that if the buyer thinks they could have bought a little better and the seller thinks they could have sold a little better and they are walking away with the cash, then they are generally going okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Ardern and Gayford might have to up their budget for a home of a similar calibre in Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches, where they are reported to be looking to buy.<\/p>\n

House prices in Sydney\u2019s northern beaches have risen by more than 5% over the last 12 months, with properties typically fetching around A$4m ($4.89m) in Freshwater and Curl Curl (two suburbs Ardern reportedly had her sights on), according to the latest figures from realestate.com.au.<\/p>\n

Compared to property values in the home suburbs of other New Zealand political leaders, Ardern\u2019s Sandringham is doing okay. In Remuera, where Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has a home, the average property value is 25% higher than it was in 2018. Property values in \u014cnetangi, on Waiheke Island, where Luxon is reported to own a bach, have done even better, enjoying an increase of 43%.<\/p>\n

In the Wellington suburbs where Labour leader Chris Hipkins owns property, values have risen by more than 40% over the same period, while limping along with rises of around 10% are property values in Parnell, where Sir John Key lives, and Mount Eden, where Helen Clark lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They said the property\u2019s security features would likely go far beyond the electronic gates, noting that a full…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491006,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[190399,1975,51,1978,3390,66936,3237,124,2947,23966,246117,337,1866,8455,6101,305,33443,42,1345,13175,6722,4486,43,1536,90,415,2437,223,27051,40,38,41,62127,39,303,1533],"class_list":["post-491005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-arderns","tag-at","tag-auckland","tag-auction","tag-best","tag-bungalow","tag-buyers","tag-could","tag-dame","tag-enough","tag-exminister","tag-features","tag-find","tag-getting","tag-good","tag-have","tag-heading","tag-headlines","tag-home","tag-jacinda","tag-minister","tag-month","tag-news","tag-next","tag-on","tag-prime","tag-security","tag-the","tag-themselves","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topoftheline","tag-topstories","tag-very","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491005\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}