It’s the Auckland suburb where entry level was $2 million, but is now closer to $3 million as the property market in the city heats up.
Buyers who have their heart set on Epsom are feeling the squeeze as affordable properties in the double grammar zone suburb become increasingly harder to find.
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Barfoot and Thomspon Remuera branch manager Carolyn Vernon says there’s little stock available in the $2 million price range and what stock there is out there gets snapped up quickly.
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“Most of the people in the $2 million range are families for whom the grammar zone is really important and they are holding on tight at the moment. If we could get some more listings in that range, they would be very attractive to buyers.”
Vernon says home-owners with entry level properties are reluctant to sell because they aren’t certain they will secure something else in the area if they do.
She says buyers trying to get into the suburb would have to stretch their budgets considerably in current market conditions.
“The next step up is quite considerable - it’s another million dollars. There are no small steps you can take at the moment,” she says.
Barfoot and Thompson agent Diana West says the number buyers trying to get into the area is huge.
“There’s just a shortage for all listings. Epsom has always been a conservative suburb.”
4 Fairholme Avenue, in Epsom, sold at auction for $3.1 million. Photo / Supplied
This week West brought to auction one of the few entry level Epsom properties to hit the market in recent months. The four-bedroom property at 1/21 King Edward Avenue sold under the hammer for $2.21 million – more than $400,000 above its 2017 rating valuation.
There were five active bidders competing to secure the home, with the eventual winners a family who had placed a pre-auction offer of $2.1million.
The cross-lease property on a 216sqm site had been with the same owners for 23 years.
West says the house was very popular amongst buyers were looking to secure a home in double grammar zone. “It’s a very popular price range and something that’s in that $2million mark is very popular,” she says.
Competition for the next step up in Epsom is equally intense. A newly renovated four-bedroom home at 4 Fairholme Avenue sold for $3.1 million – more than $600,000 above its rating valuation – after a determined buyer made a pre-auction offer that blew away the competition.
