A luxury apartment complex planned for Auckland's North Shore has been snapped up by Chinese-speaking buyers before the rest of the public got the chance to have a look.
The 24-storey apartment complex - planned for Kaipiho Lane in Albany - caused a "subscription frenzy" when it was advertised on Chinese social media app WeChat, Stuff reports.
The website, www.kaipiho.co.nz, advertised the development in Chinese, and within two weeks, more than 40 of the apartments had sold, according to the website, which has since been removed following Stuff's enquiries.
A video advertising the development still exists online, however, which showcases the "No. 1 Kaipiho Lane" development as "set to become one of the premier developments in New Zealand".
But the video, uploaded in June, provides no information on how to purchase one of the apartments - it just gives a description.
It will boast "world class facilities including a porte cochere arrival zone, grand lobby, resident's cinema, covered pool, private lift lobbies, robotic valet parking, 24-hour concierge, helicopter landing pad and much more".
"The upper levels contain opulent sub-penthouses and the building is crowned with a magnificent single penthouse which stretches across the entire top level of the tower," the description adds.
Before the website was taken down, Stuff reports Harcourts agent Maggie Gao's contact details were featured. Her details also appear on Chinese property website Hougarden, which says the apartments have been "withdrawn or sold".
Ms Gao told Stuff the majority of buyers were Chinese and Koreans living in New Zealand. She said the ad distributed on WeChat was targeted at Chinese living in New Zealand for whom English wasn't their first language.
The apartments - ranging in price from $550,000 to $1.3 million - were granted resource consent in December, according to documents released by Auckland Council. But the public was not notified of the complex.
The resource consent application was filed by Junge Xu, who also owns the estimated $4.1 million property.
Newshub.
