The auction of an Arts & Crafts home in Auckland’s double grammar zone last week could signal a change in the way high-end properties are being sold.
The immaculately renovated five-bedroom home at 6 Tirohanga Avenue, in Remuera, sold for $7.5 million – $2.5 million above the 2017 CV and a record price for the agency that called the auction.
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The listing agents, Ray White Remuera’s Simon Siddells and Thomas Farmer, told OneRoof the property had attracted more than 70 interested buyers “shopping with budgets of $6 million to $8 million".
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“There were five registered bidders at the auction and three of them kept going after bidding passed $7 million,” Farmer said. “There’s an amazing appetite for homes in double grammar zone.”
The pair said that demand in Remuera had been boosted by cashed-up buyers moving their sights from Herne Bay as “there is nothing over there, a real shortage of listings”.
“When you’ve got a beautiful property you know a lot of people will be really interested in, then an auction works,” Siddells said.
“At that price level and higher, it’s an incredible market. People like to know that other people are prepared to pay these prices. After the auction we had a huge number of people tell us they liked to see that.”
The house in Auckland’s double grammar zone attracted 70 interested buyers. Photo / Supplied
He added: “We’ve been amazed at how many people have [budgets of] between $6 million and $12 million. Some have already sold, some were planning renovations but then wanted to buy something that is already done.”
Ray White national auctioneer John Bowring, who called the auction, said the atmosphere in the room “was just electric”.
“It’s very exciting for an auctioneer when the numbers are higher - you do feel a bit more pressure,” he said.
“It just proves the sky’s the limit for these high-level properties. It’s certainly changed up from people just selling these homes for tender or price by negotiation.
“In a good market, when there are a lot of people with money, why not give it a run.”
147A Arney Road, in Remuera, Auckland, holds the auction record, selling last year for $8 million. Photo / Supplied
Ray White New Zealand chief executive Carey Smith said the sale price was the highest the agency had achieved at auction and signalled a change of tactics at the top end of the market.
“We are seeing more and more high-end properties being submitted for sale by auction,” Smith said. “In the past, there was a tendency for closed-off market sales but the market is now so much broader and there is a renewed appreciation for openness in real estate transactions.”
He said that buyers liked the transparency auctions offered because it allowed them to “validate their competition and also the market response to the property”.
“The increasing movement towards auction has come about because of the significant depth of buyers in the market. It gives buyers and the agent fairness around the sale process and provides a certainty of market value."
While sale prices at rural and commercial auctions can often push past $10 million, the highest sale price at a residential auction was set last year when a cliff-top home with one of the best views in Remuera sold under the hammer for $8 million.
The 1960s house at 147A Arney Road had 18 bidders competing to secure the property at the Barfoot and Thompson auction in May.
Bayleys national auction manager Conor Patton told OneRoof bids of $6 million or more would soon become increasingly common in New Zealand auction rooms.
“We’re seeing a lot in that space, and we’ve noticed it gives agents and their vendors a lot of confidence. There’s no reason we can’t be auctioning at that price level.”
