While Manhattan’s luxury real estate market is struggling these days, one top broker is shilling a property in New Zealand.
Ryan Serhant of Nest Seekers International, who shot to fame as broker to the ultra-wealthy in Bravo TV’s series “Million Dollar Listing New York,” is pitching a “billionaire’s retreat in COVID-free New Zealand,” according to Bloomberg.
Since the pandemic started, interest in the tiny nation east of Australia has skyrocketed with 80,000 Americans seeking out information in May on how to emigrate there — a 65% jump compared to the same time last year. The island nation only has 23 cases of the coronavirus and Americans like Matt Lauer, hedge fund billionaire Julian Robertson, “Titanic” director James Cameron and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel already own homes in the country.
While there is now a law against non-natives buying second homes in New Zealand, there is a loophole.
The 13,175-square-foot mountainside home Serhant is selling has been rezoned for commercial use, and therefore not beholden to normal restrictions, according to Bloomberg. The person selling the property would also be up for leasing the land back from the buy for $56,525 a month.
“Personally, I love New Zealand,” Serhant, who honeymooned there in 2016, told Bloomberg. “When COVID hit, my wife and I looked at each other and said, ‘They’re not going to have it.’ They know what they’re doing. It’s one of the healthiest, safest countries in the world.”
And safety is high on billionaire’s lists right now.
“Should there be another quarantine, you want land, you want air, you want safety and security,” Serhant told the news outlet. “Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and New Zealand are some of the best places to find that.”
While Serhant “believes New York’s luxury market will rebound once people have more certainty about schools and offices reopening and the impact of the election,” he claims he is still busy in the city.
“I have a lot of people calling me for a good deal,” he said.