Revelations that up to $37 million has been poured into Mark Hotchin’s Paritai Drive house may have left some people agog – but a real estate agent insists it’s hardly surprising.

A court decision reveals the Hanover founder has spent $12.2 million on the house and a trust up to $25 million.

But real estate agent Gary Wallace said those costs were standard for a top-quality home. He estimated the land value of Hotchin’s property to be about $17 million and said the rest would have been spent on building costs.

“For a top quality architect, they charge around $8000 a square metre … so for a home that size, you’d be looking at somewhere around $12 million or more,” Mr Wallace said.

“That’s for the best quality architecture and materials from around the world. It costs a lot to build quality in New Zealand.”

Graham Wall, top-end realtor, said wealthy Americans and Asians would willingly pay at least that for a quality home. The $37 million equated to US$29 million.

“Spending $37 million is nothing. It buys an okay house in Maui. It’s little to the Americans or Chinese or Australians.

“There’s a lack of quality product in New Zealand. It’s the size and the quality of materials in the house that make it that expensive: a great New Zealand architect like Lawrence Sumich and a great landscape architect like Suzanne Turley,” Mr Wall said.

Realestate.co.nz shows New Zealand’s 10 most expensive houses for sale start with Russell’s $55 million clifftop luxury resort Rahimoana, marketed as the absolute extreme in luxurious world coastal real estate. It is on 18ha with 833sq m of house and said to be New Zealand’s best.

The long-standing attempt to sell Pakatoa Island sees it appear at $40 million, followed by Beverley and Sean Donnelly’s Waiheke Island Cowes Bay Estate, also on the market for some years, listed at $33 million.

“Solid nautica elegance” is at 10 Edward Jonkers Drive, Riverhead, northwest of Auckland, which QV lists as being owned by Nicole and Dominik Suter. is listed at $24,750,000

Superior country lifestyle is offered at 36 Gracechurch Drive in Dannemora for $17.5 million. QV says Lynne-Marie King and Terry Earl King are the owners.

Various land banks around Taupo and Hobsonville feature for $14 million to $15 million, followed by Russell’s Eagles Nest at $13.7 million, an 11-bedroom, 13-bathroom property near Rahimoana.

Back to Auckland and the five-bedroom, five-bathroom Ron Sang-designed house at 92 Paritai Drive, owned by property investor James Kirkpatrick, features at $13 million.

Also sporting five bedrooms and five bathrooms is the $12.5 million Hurakia Lodge on Rakino Island’s Sandford Rd with 9ha, pool, private golf driving range and private wharf.

Russell’s Matauwhi Bay Manor at $12.1 million is on a private headland.

Although a house at Ardmore’s Airfield Rd is not manor-like, it is being marketed for $10 million because it stands on a 14.4ha section.

At beachfront Omaha, gated access via a landscaped 1.7km private road unveils 434 Mangatawhiri Rd, on the market for $9.5 million.

NZ’s 10 most expensive houses on the market
* 1: $55m Rahimoana, 84 Tapeka Rd, Russell
* 2: $33m Cowes Bay Estate, Waiheke Island
* 3: $24.7m 10 Edward Jonkers Drive, Riverhead
* 4: $17.5m 36 Gracechurch Dr, Dannemora
* 5: $13.7m Eagles Nest, Tapeka Rd, Russell
* 6: $13m 92 Paritai Drive, Orakei, Auckland
* 7: $12.5m Hurakia Lodge, Rakino Island
* 8: $12.1m Matauwhi Bay Manor, Russell
* 9: $10m Airfield Rd, Ardmore
* 10: $9.5m 434 Mangatawhiri Rd, Omaha

By Anne Gibson | Email Anne