This Auckland house sold for $17.6m in 2021. Just four years later, it sold for millions more

Tuesday, 3 June 2025

Take a tour of the multi million-dollar waterfront house in Westmere formerly owned by Sharon Hunter and Mayor of Tauranga Tenby Powell. It was designed by Ponting Fitzgerald Architects. (Video first published November, 2019)

One of Auckland’s top waterfront homes has sold for $28 million, which is $10.4m more than the price it sold for just four years ago.

Sitting on 1978m² of land, the five-bedroom, three-bathroom house has sweeping views of the Waitematā Harbour, which can be enjoyed from the property’s infinity pool.

The property on Rawene Ave in Westmere was designed by award-winning architect David Ponting and built in 2011 by former Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell and his entrepreneur wife Sharon Hunter.

The property on Rawene Ave sold in 2021 for $17.6m, and again in April 2025 for $28m.

The couple once rented the house to movie star Jason Statham, who was in the country in 2016 to film science fiction action film The Meg. The property has also been visited by Prince Albert of Monaco and his wife, Princess Charlene.

In 2021, the property sold for $17.6m, just under the anticipated price of around $20m, after three years on the market.

The house was designed by award-winning architect David Ponting.

But in April, the property sold again for $28m, in a ‘house swap’ deal, where the seller ended up purchasing the buyer’s home - a similarly impressive property on Ronaki Rd in Mission Bay, also for $28m.

Bayleys real estate agent Sarah Liu sold the Rawene Ave property in both April and in 2021.

Liu was unable to go into the specifics of the transaction and why the house had sold for $10.4m more after only four years, but said it came down to the buyer’s taste.

The house once belonged to former Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell and entrepreneur Sharon Hunter.

“Usually if the buyer likes it, and they have the ability to buy it, they like to pay a premium for it.”

The sellers had renovated since 2021, which added value to the property, but the renovations were not “major”, Liu said.

While the property market had been sluggish in recent years, due to inflation spiking at 7.3% in June 2022 and pushing up interest rates, Liu said the luxury property market was different to the residential market, as wealthy buyers had the ability to buy at any time.

Bayleys real estate agent Sarah Liu said wealthy buyers were willing to pay a premium for a house if it matched their taste.

Regarding house swaps, Liu said they were “pretty common”.

According to Auckland Council, the Ronaki Rd property had a CV of $13.7m and the Rawene Ave home $20.5m.

Liu couldn’t say whether the parties exchanged cash, or did a straight swap.