Rich Aussies on the hunt for $3m-plus properties
"The current market is seeing a 10-fold imbalance of buyers versus available high-end properties, with Lake Hayes noted as a hot spot for demand," Oliver Road managing director Cam Winter says.
"We are contacted daily by buyers with budgets of between $5million and $25m, but they have very specific requirements and aren't going to part with that sort of money if something isn't quite right."
People with $8m to spend won't just buy the best available option, he notes — "they're happy to wait until the perfect place comes along".
Winter, who's been joined by sales partner Omea Swanson over the past six months, won the best NZ agent award (2025-26) at the International Property Awards' Asia Pacific awards in Bangkok, Thailand — he also spoke on a panel about the Queenstown property market.
Oliver Road also won best real estate agency website in NZ and the top NZ marketing award.
With the first two awards, Winter and his firm are also in the running for Asia Pacific and international awards which will be announced in December.
When his company solely operated in the Bay of Plenty, he also won the Asia Pacific best agent title in 2021-22.
He set up his Arrowtown office in '23 and, since launching with three listings 18 months ago, the firm's sold 18 properties ranging from about $3m to $12m.
Winter notes buyers like his agency's transparent pricing.
"As the agent for a property worth $7m or $8m, we have a responsibility not only to the seller of that property to get the best price but also to the current and future sellers of other properties in what is such a small market segment.
"The results heavily impact what can be obtained for other properties."
He notes about 60% of his buyers are from Australia, and primarily Sydney.
"A notable recent sale of 408 Littles Rd at $7.23m took place after a multiple offer situation with both buyers being from Australia."
Following recent comments from NZ First leader Winston Peters, whose party's in the coalition government, "we expect the current overseas buyer settings [allowing only Australian and Singaporean foreign residential buyers] to change, though this is likely to allow only those investing in the country to acquire property here, over a threshold such as $5m".
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Rotorua Lawyer Warns MBIE Mediation Backlog Is Costing Businesses
A more than two-month delay for Government mediation services is costing businesses time and productivity as they wait to resolve employment issues, a Rotorua-based specialist employment lawyer says. Dealing with an employment issue can be a costly and time-consuming exercise for both a business and staff member, but not dealing with it effectively and efficiently could cost both parties even more, workplace law barrister, Michelle Urquhart, says. This is what local businesses are facing with the current nine-week wait for the Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) free mediation service. 'Having to wait more than two months for mediation – which is meant to be an early intervention service – is far from ideal in the current economic environment,' Mrs Urquhart says. 'Workplace issues can do a great deal of damage to a public or private organisation, and they don't tend to fix themselves. A dispute will initially impact the people directly involved, but it doesn't take long for it to start impacting wider teams, productivity, morale and ultimately, the bottom line. 'Getting on top of the concern early, having calm conversations, and developing a resolution plan that works for everyone is critical to moving forward before too much damage is done. Mediation is often key to the success of this.' Mrs Urquhart says mediation is an invaluable tool to help resolve disputes without the stress, time or cost of an expensive legal process. It also helps build a stronger business, with better communication and sustainable outcomes. She says the current delays at MBIE for mediation mean increasing numbers of businesses are turning to independent specialists – or are not dealing with the issue at all. 'The second option is a lose-lose for both parties. In the current employment environment, no one wants to be looking for a new job. For an employer, it can cost up to 1.5 times a person's salary to replace them, including recruitment, onboarding and lost productivity. Mrs Urquhart says businesses looking for external mediation support should look for someone with proven experience, relevant qualifications and professional membership with either the Arbitrators' and Mediators' Institute of New Zealand or the Resolution Institute. 'Industry membership means the adviser has the appropriate qualifications and experience to deliver mediation, while also working under an industry code of ethics. 'This is important, as it gives employees and organisations a level of reassurance they're working with someone who is qualified to help get them on the right track. In a stressful and emotional situation, this benchmark is something people should be looking for.' And her biggest piece of advice for either an employee or employer? 'Don't wait. Start addressing the issue sooner rather than later and get some help to ensure it's done right the first time.'
Scoop
6 hours ago
- Scoop
Gartner's Khurram Shahzad on satellite broadband
Set to go mainstream Leo satellite broadband has been popular with New Zealanders in remote areas since it first arrived four years ago. A year ago Download Weekly reported: ' New Zealand has the highest number of satellite connections per person in the OECD '. Melbourne-based Gartner director analyst Khurram Shahzad says the technology will soon break out of its rural niche and become mainstream. He says, 'Up until three years ago, there were only around 3000 satellites in the sky. But in the last three years we have reached around 11,000. At this pace, we are on track to exceed 40,000 satellites in the next three years. It means satellite communication will become more mainstream.' Reusable rockets change the economics One of the drivers is that, thanks to reusable rockets, the cost of satellite launches has dropped to the point where it is no longer a barrier to entry. Shahzad says Starlink has the first mover advantage and has the largest constellation, but it is not the only player. There are new companies focused on different markets like services for IoT or direct to mobile. Satellites have long been the obvious choice in places where there is no terrestrial connectivity. Shahzad says this will expand so that the technology will complement existing services and, in some cases, replace them. Better quality for rural users 'There are still a lot of areas where broadband quality is not good enough, or the infrastructure does not provide high-speed broadband. Leos (Low Earth Orbit satellites) can provide better speeds in those instances. 'And there are businesses who want a backup or a fallback. So if there is an outage, they still have business continuity.' Another area where satellites are likely to dominate is with connected or autonomous vehicles. Shahzad says new electric vehicles now come with embedded satellite connectivity, to the point where some car manufacturers are launching their own satellites. The technology is also being used where people work at a temporary location such as a construction site. And then there are the maritime and aviation applications, neither of these are well served by existing networks. Competition coming Amazon's arrival will sharpen market competition. Shahzad says we can expect to see five or six major players but there will be more. 'By our last count, there are almost 20 providers in this space who are all building their own constellations.' The bottleneck for the industry is finding launch slots, which is where SpaceX and Starlink have another advantage. Many of the would be competitors will use SpaceX for launches. 'Once this bottleneck is overcome, we can expect to see tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of satellites in the sky. He says experts estimate the maximum number could be around a million.' Challenges remain Despite cheaper launches, the technology has one big disadvantage over terrestrial networks: satellites have a limited life span. 'It's around five years for the earlier versions. Starlink says the new satellites last eight to 10 years, perhaps. But even then, they need to replenish those satellites quite often. It also means that there is potential of a lot of space debris. And that is one area which is still a little grey.' Another grey area is spectrum. Satellite operators typically don't buy spectrum and there are multiple competing and conflicting standards around the world. Direct to mobile When it comes to direct to mobile services there are some satellite operators who use the spectrum allocated to their mobile network operator partners. That will make newer satellite operators dependent on their partners. Because spectrum is allocated on a country by country basis, and most MNOs are based in a single country, satellite operators will have to manage a patchwork of standards. Shahzad says there are issues managing interoperability and handover: 'How do you manage interference between the two? How do you manage the handover, and do you want to carry on the session from one network to the other—and how do you bring it back?' This analysis was originally posted in the August 1, 2025 edition of Download Weekly newsletter and can now be found at Gartner's Khurram Shahzad on satellite market.
NZ Herald
10 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Cryptopia customer tried to bribe court registrar for information about company's case
A man claiming to be an affected party in the collapse of a multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency company has tried to bribe a court registrar to release information related to the case for $2 million in Bitcoin. New Zealand-based company Cryptopia was allegedly hacked in January 2019, leading to the loss
