A sprawling property on the banks of the Avon River, in Christchurch’s top suburb, has sold for well in excess of $7 million – but the house will be bowled.
“It’s a record price for a section,” says Bayleys agent Adam Heazlewood who brokered the deal for the Fendalton Road property, in Fendalton, which had a 2019 ratings valuation of $3.96m.
He added that while sale details are confidential, he can say that the buyer will be bowling the existing house to re-build, after paying more than twice the $3.4m value of the land to secure the rare site.
It was the location and plot size of over 4000sqm that drew buyers from around the country and overseas, Heazlewood says, as the sweeping lawn leads down to the river with outstanding views across to Mona Vale Homestead, one of the city’s premier venues.
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“Plots this size don’t exist anywhere else, that’s why it warranted a record price. It will be a seriously high-end home.”
The Fendalton Road property in Christchurch, held in two titles, spanned over 4000sqm beside the river. Photo / Supplied
The 520sqm six-bedroom 1960s house was being sold in “as is where is” condition after being damaged in the earthquake, but Heazlewood says it was refurbished and was very liveable, with a pool and "luxuriously scaled” living spaces.
Heazlewood says that demand for properties over $4m in the city’s top suburbs has been huge. The size of the Fendalton Road land attracted a mix of buyers interested in both the whole plot, or just one of the two separate lots - one was 1442sqm and the other was 2606sqm.
The lawns and gardens overlooked the glass house of Christchurch's much loved Mona Vale Homestead. Photo / Supplied
“Now we’re working on it to find properties for four or five buyers with more than $5m to spend who missed out on this. Obviously there aren’t as many as in Auckland,” says Heazlewood.
OneRoof records show that the highest settled sale price for Fendalton in the last six months was $4.26m, while in neighbouring up-scale Merivale, a property sold for $6.7m, just under the suburb record of $7m.
The 520sqm home was built in the 1960s and recently refurbished. Photo / Supplied
The previous Fendalton sales record of $6.825m was set in late 2018 for a five-bedroom 1930s house set on a huge 4961sqm property at Glandovey Road, also on the river.
The median value of the suburb has grown 5.2% this year to $1.312m - nearly three times the Christchurch median value of $552,000.
Development sites are sought-after across the city.
A 1940s house on 3240 sqm of land in Ngaio Street, St Martins, two kilometres from the city centre sold for $2.12m. Photo / Supplied
Last week a three-bedroom 1940s home on 3,240sqm section, in Ngaio Street, St Martins, just two kilometres from the city centre, sold under the hammer for $2.12m, over three times its 2019 council valuation.
Bayleys agent Tom Gilroy who marketed the "as is, where is" home, on the market for the first time in over 50 years, was selling it with a subdivision development proposal.
At the same auction, Heazlewood and colleague Kurt Findlay sold a two-bedroom 1970s house in Chester Street in the city centre for $1.2m, nearly twice its $629,000 rating valuation.
The 625sqm site has zoning that allows increased density, including building heights of between eight metres to 30 metres as part of the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan.
Another four-bedroom 1920s property Heazlewood marketed on 2157sqm near Westfield Riccarton fetched $2.3m at auction, nearly $550,000 over its rating valuation. He says the property's residential suburban zone with an accommodation and community facilities overlay meant the site was "stacked with development potential" particularly since it was close to the University and in zone for Christchurch Girls' and Boy's high schools.
