Ex-pat Kiwis returning to New Zealand have snapped up the Auckland villa of the city council's former design champion, Ludo Campbell-Reid.
Records show Campbell-Reid bought the five bedroom Victorian-era home in Birkenhead Point in mid 2018 for $1.995 million.
The $2.375m selling price has handed him a $380,000 profit in the space of 18 months, the result of both renovations and a sudden up-tick in the market for character properties.
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The head of Auckland Council's Design Office, Ludo Campbell-Reid, has sold his Auckland villa to move to Wyndham City south west of Melbourne.
Bayleys agent Linda Simmons, who with Sue Mayhew and Anna Mayhew, brokered a tender campaign that closed Wednesday, said that, while she couldn't disclose actual numbers there were "loads" of offers submitted.
"We had offers from two overseas buyers, and interest from Kiwis in America, London and Malaysia. Some had been looking and just fell in love with the look of the house while some knew the area and even knew the house," she said.
"They want to come home to the Kiwi dream - the beautiful houses and suburbs, where kids can be free and safe and walk to school."
Sue Mayhew said that buyers are looking for the big family homes with character, with buyers from the city side recognising the character properties are more affordable than in Herne Bay. The agents had over 100 people through open homes, levels that haven't been seen since the market peak.
"There is not enough stock of big family homes, and when people move into the area, they hold on, waiting for the next move."
Both agents say that there is a real pent up demand, particularly in the $2m to $3m bracket, with disappointed buyers missing out and vendors receiving multiple offers for their properties.
"Buyers know these character homes don't come up all the time. This was one of those 'fall in love' homes, the street, the pool, north facing. It's what the area's all about."
Campbell-Reid is moving to Australia's Wyndham City, a city of some 220,000 on the south west of Melbourne, near Geelong, as director of city design and liveability.
His enthusiasm for public transport and cycling might be rewarded this time around, as Wyndham is known in Victoria for its cycling and is growing along two of the city's biggest rail lines.
The median house price in Wyndham is AU$600,000 ($632,000), which is more than NZ$200,000 lower than Auckland's median house price. The city is one of Melbourne's principal growth areas, with median prices growing over 52 percent in the past five years.
Campbell-Reid’s Victorian villa over two levels has one of the most admired frontages in the Maritime Terrace row of villas, with a classic bay window, French doors and sash windows opening to the lace-trimmed front verandah. There’s a rolling lawn, mature pohutukawa and even a white picket fence.
The house has an airy front parlour, three bedrooms including a grand master suite and a newly renovated kitchen and dining space at the more modern two-story rear. Original ceilings, fireplaces and wood floors speak of the turn-of-last-century origins of the house, as does the generous 931 sq m section with bush views.
The downstairs accommodation includes a living room with a bar to service the dining terrace, swimming pool and spa area, and there’s also a bedroom, laundry and stand-alone office. Above the roomy garage is another self-contained space with bathroom and kitchenette that would make a great home office, teen or granny flat.
In his 13 years Campbell-Reid pushed through some historic firsts as head of the Auckland Design Office: renaissance of the urban downtown that made people, not cars, the centre of city life and the globally award-winning Lightpath – Te Ara I Whiti, which transformed a redundant motorway exit to a pink path linking Grafton, the NorthWestern and city off-road riding routes, but the high cost of housing and city spread are still issues on the table for his successor.
