The options available to buyers hoping to secure a home in Auckland’s desirable double grammar zone in the midst of a booming market were clear at yesterday’s Barfoot and Thompson auctions: a piece of bare land, a lease-hold unit, a brand-new townhouse or a renovation job.
All four properties were in high demand, and all four sold under the hammer after competitive bidding, with the combined sale prices of all four fetching well over $11 million.
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The star of the foursome was an 806sqm plot of empty land at 22 Ingram Road and 27 Spencer Street, in Remuera. It sold for $3.81 million, a price the marketing agent, Alex Baker, said no one could have predicted.
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“We never anticipated it would get to that level, it sets a new benchmark for land at $4727 per square metre. Around here it’s been around $4000 per square metre and people were aghast at that,” he said.
“We had strong enquiries from both developers and people wanting to build their dream home. Or some were tandem, build on one, sell the other.
The corner pair of properties at 27 Spencer Street and 22 Ingram Road sold for $4727 per square metre, a top price for the area. Photo / supplied
“The price reflects the demand for a vacant site anywhere in Remuera, let alone double grammar zone.”
Baker said that the vacant sites, cleared after a fire in one of the duplexes that had been there, had been in dual ownership. The buyers, who came from another Barfoot and Thompson agent, were one of seven registered bidders, most of whom were expecting the price to land in the early $3 millions.
“It’s quite an incredible reality; there is sadly more demand than supply.”
Fetching almost $200,000 more than the Remuera plot was a luxury five-bedroom townhouse at 18B Ashton Road, in Mt Eden.
Agent Ling Zhu, who brought the five-bedroom property to market with colleague Samuel Chatwin, said that attendance at the open homes - some 120 groups - was one of the biggest she’d seen in her ten years in the business.
A brand-new architect-designed house at 18B Ashton Road Mount Eden sold for $4 million. Photo / supplied
She said the four bidders competing at the auction were all prepared to spend more than $3 million, because there was nothing brand new on the market in double grammar zone at the moment. The house, which comes with luxury extras such as a theatre room, electric gates and security and central air conditioning, sold under the hammer for $4 million.
Nearby 12 Sharpe Road, in Epsom, sold for $3.435 million - $310,000 above its 2017 CV.
Agent Diana West made no bones about the scale of the project the new owner is taking on. The house had not been on the market in 77 years, and, while undoubtedly handsome, is in pretty original condition.
“It’s not just a do-up, it’s double brick and will be a very challenging renovation. Most people would want to demolish but it’s got a character heritage overlay. You could easily spend $1 million to $2 million to renovate,” she said.
The $3. 435 million proceeds from the sale of 12 Sharpe Road Epsom will go to a charity. It needs complete renovation. Photo / supplied
“But at that location you can never over-capitalize. Sharpe Road is one of those very special streets, very sought after but very tightly held, people always want to buy there.”
West understands that the buyer, brought in by Barfoot and Thompson agent Robben Li, had visited the property for the first time on the day of the auction, and plans to undertake a major refurbishment.
Proceeds from the sale are to go to charity.
At the lower end of the grammar zone market, a buyer snapped up a three-bedroom leasehold unit at 282 Manukau Road, in Newmarket, for $233,000.
The listing agent, Tony Keegan, said the unit was the third on the block he had sold since May. The land is owned by Cornwall Park Trust Board and the $13,750 annual lease, which expires in September 2032, works out to just $246 per week so is “very manageable”, he said.
A leasehold unit at 282 Manukau Road sold at auction for $283,000. Photo / supplied
“With another 12 years to run, this makes it very appealing. We had 30 groups through in just three weekends of marketing. For the first time in a long time I had six seriously interested – for a leasehold that’s quite extraordinary - and four bidders participated.”
The buyers have school age children, but Keegan said investors and buyers looking for homes close to the university were also keen.
“This gives people security of tenure – they're not being moved on by a landlord all the time who wants to move back into property or sell. It’s still cheaper than renting.”
