A tired three-bedroom house in Auckland’s Glen Innes sold at auction last weekend for a phenomenal $2.31 million - more than $1m above its CV.
The 1950s property had zero value but the 809sqm land on Eastview Road, in a rapidly gentrifying part of Glen Innes, had a valuable terrace house and apartment zoning.
“I grew up in Glen Innes and the vendors were old friends of mine,” Ray White agent Bob Lemalu, who marketed the property with Harpreet Walia, says.
“The dad is in his 80s now and he bought the house from the railways in the 1970s. His daughters then bought it from him in the 1990s. They’d be one of the last remaining old guard in the area.”
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The property is on the fringes of the huge Tamaki Regeneration Project which is transforming 2500 State homes into a mix of 10,500 new private, affordable and State homes across Glen Innes, Point England and Panmure over the next 20 years.
The house at Eastview Road, Glen Innes, is surrounded by rapidly gentrifying properties. Photo / Supplied
Eight bidders pushed the price well past the early $1.43m to $1.5m pre-auction offers, with three bidders still driving the price over $2m. Over 15 developers were eyeing up the property, Lemalu says.
“They all have more than $2m to spend, with other projects on the go. The buyer owns the neighbouring site which he’s already developed, so he didn’t want to lose that,” Lemalu says.
“The kids were absolutely gobsmacked. It’s like winning Lotto.” Lemalu says that despite the higher density zoning which allows either terrace housing or multi-storey apartments, developers are more inclined to put on larger, more upscale single houses on this street. The neighbouring house, a four-bedroom home of nearly 200sqm, is not priced yet but Lemalu says that similar homes of this quality are now going for $1.3m to $1.5m.
Closer to the water, houses in Wai O Taiki Bay are going for even more.
“It’s a bit different from when I grew up. It’s really starting to take off now, and there’s still demand for land. It’s not the small guys.”
Another property zoned for terrace housing and apartments at Ryburn Road, Mount Wellington will likely sell to developer for high density housing. Photo / Supplied
Lemalu says that in other parts of Tamaki, developers will put on higher density.
He expects the buyer of another THAB-zoned property he’s bringing to auction at Ryburn Road in Mount Wellington will put terraces or even apartments there because this type of housing is already on the street, and a huge 40-unit development on Mount Richmond is just behind this property.
“The end market is there. Two- and three-bedroom homes are selling for $1m.”
Buyers snapped up four five-bedroom houses in Rosamund Avenue, New Windsor, for $1.3m each. Photos / Supplied
The same demand is pushing up prices in the city’s inner west.
Investors and family buyers didn’t get a look-in when an attractive five-bedroom 1920s brick bungalow in New Lynn’s Astley Avenue went to auction because it is zoned for the highest density.
The 878sqm corner site sold for $1.961m, nearly twice its council valuation of $1.075m, of which land value is $830,000. Six bidders pushed the price well past the expected $1.7m.
Records show the vendors paid $170,000 for the property in 1993.
An attractive brick bungalow on 878 sqm at Astley Avenue, Avondale, sold for $1.96m. Photo / Supplied
Ray White agent Jack Lee, who marketed the property, said there had been huge interest from developers. “At $2233 per sqm, this is close to the record for New Lynn. I sold a 756sqm property on Great North Road [in] Avondale in December for $1.81m, $2394 per sqm, and 1078sqm in Highbury Street, Avondale for $2.4m - that’s $3304 per sqm.”
Lee says investors and family-home buyers (the bungalow had many original features) just can’t compete with developers. And while he gets flak from some neighbours not happy at the evolution of their streets, he says new-home buyers are welcoming the affordable houses.
“There’s still an appetite for the developments, they’re a good end product.”
Barfoot & Thompson agents Joseph Lee and Vic Trivedi successfully marketed a three-bedroom house on Miranda Street, Avondale, selling it under the hammer for $1.822m.
The original house on a flat 837sqm section zoned Mixed Housing Urban appealed to developers as it was close to Blockhouse Bay Road and handy to the motorway.
“We've got developers criss-crossing around town for these sites,” Mike Henderson, manager of Barfoot & Thompson’s Henderson branch, says.
“There were 40 people on site [for the auction] and 10 buyers. We haven’t seen something come up in that area for some time. At roughly $2000 per sqm, that’s better than places like Mount Eden where they’re $5000 per sqm.”
Barfoot & Thompson’s Calvin Roche, who represented the buyer, says that developers looking at the pricier sites are very experienced and know their end-market. “A site like that, if you put seven three-level townhouses, three bed, two bath, with parking, you’d be selling for around $1m and there’s good demand.”
While he didn’t know what mix of terraces and townhouses the end-buyer planned to build, he says recent sales of four good quality five-bedroom houses in nearby Boundary Road show the strength of the market. All four sold within three weeks of listing for around $1.3m each.
“If I'd had four more, I could have sold them all. There’s some crazy prices achieved around Avondale now,” he says.
