The $4.41 million paid under the hammer for a stylishly renovated bungalow in Auckland’s Point Chevalier is a sign of the huge demand at the top end of the market.
The listing agent for the five-bedroom house, Ray White’s Robyn Ellson, told OneRoof that buyers were on the hunt for large family homes but supply was limited.
“These are not cheap to build. With do-ups selling now for $2 million to $2.5 million, you’ve got to have another $1 million to create something like this,” she said of 34 Te Ra Road, which she marketed with colleague Nick Blackie.
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“There was huge interest [in the house] and we received a pre-auction offer of $3.95 million. It was only on the market for one week, and we only showed it to qualified buyers – in that segment of the market you don’t need open homes.”
Ray White chief auctioneer John Bowering, who called the auction, said there was strong competition for the property, with three of the six registered bidders still bidding after the price passed the $4 million mark.
“It was a firecracker. But it was just a beautiful house,” he said.
The eventual sale price was more than $2 million above the 2017 rating valuation, and according to OneRoof records, more than $1 million above what it last sold for two years ago.
The immaculately renovated bungalow was only the market for a week before selling. Photo / Supplied
The house had been extensive renovated, with vendors adding a second storey master suite, a swimming pool, spa and pool house.
Professionals agent Derek von Sturmer, who also sells in Point Chevalier, told OneRoof that buyers were prepared to pay top prices for quality bungalows in the suburb.
He said 34 Te Ra Road had been the only large bungalow in the suburb’s northern slopes to come to market in the last 12 months. The last one sold off market in nearby Johnstone Road in March 2020 for $3.61 million.
"I have at least 10 families willing to spend up to $6 million on large homes like 34 Te Ra Road. If they’re finished to a high level, they’re so much more popular.”
Developable land of 2200sqm near the water at 32 Seacombe Road, in Point Chevalier, sold in October for $4.35 million. Photo / Supplied
He added that 34 Te Ra Road would be the first of many to sell “in excess of $4 million”.
Homeowners in the suburb’s southern slopes were also getting good money from developers because of much of the land there has zoning for higher density housing.
“The vendors who got $3 million for those homes are now looking to buy and have $4 million-plus budgets.”
He points to the three sites on Huia Road, where new townhouses for the next season of The Block are being built. They sold for $2.1 million each in late 2017, well in excess of their $1.6 to $1.675 million council valuations.
“People are paying big prices. 80% of them already live in Point Chev and they love area more than anything. We call it the ‘Point Chev property exchange’.
“A lot are trying to get there from the Westmere Avenues or southern slopes of Herne Bay. But it only takes missing out on a couple of auctions before they understand the value here.”
22 bidders vied for 14 Formby Avenue, Point Chevalier, pushing the price to just under $2 million. Photo / Supplied
Von Sturmer said the price frenzy had also spread to Point Chevalier’s entry-level properties.
This week 12 bidders drove the price of a 99sqm three-bedroom house on a cross-lease site at 14 Formby Avenue to just under $2 million.
“It went for $1.996 million. That’s now entry level. Last year, a similar property at 59 Wainui, closer to the water and slightly larger, went for $1.875 million,” Von Sturmer said.
