Aucklanders took out the bidding for a blue builder’s lunch shed on an otherwise empty section overlooking Mangawhai Heads camping ground and estuary.
Bayleys’ auction for Olsen Avenue had six bidders who all really wanted the picturesque site which has a building platform, says agent Stephyn St James, who marketed the property with Christine Thomas.
In the end, it sold for $1.45m, a “brilliant” result for a section.
Last year’s CV of $1.77m was higher than the winning bid but a house on the site was removed four years ago and the capital value for just the land is $1.21m.
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St James says the previous owners had planned to build their dream home there but the build didn’t go ahead. The new owner still inherits a little blue shed with phenomenal views, though.
“They had all the building plans consented and ready to go so the builders actually built that for themselves so they’d have a lunchroom and a planning room - that was literally just built for the builders which is pretty cool, most people don’t go to that sort of lengths.”
All the bidders were from Auckland, as is usually the case for waterfront sites in Mangawhai.
“Mangawhai always has been Auckland’s playground, basically,” says St James.
But most of the bidders also had ties to the area and some had stayed at the camping ground so had an emotional tie to the site.
St James wasn’t sure what plans the new owners had for the site which has views to the Heads, the iconic sandhill and also looks back to the Brynderwyns.
And the price probably would have been higher still if the section had been flat.
A house just minutes from the beach in Wainui, Gisborne, sold for $1.653m. Photo / Supplied
Inquiries for property in the area had fallen since the Level 4 lockdown but with Northland now going to Level 3, St James expected to be swamped by demand for what little stock there is.
The scarcity is not so much to do with Covid as people being reluctant to list because there’s nothing for them to buy, he says.
Properties near the water had a strong run in other Bayleys auctions, with agents in Gisborne and Tauranga reporting when one is sold people are lining up to buy the next.
But two sales of almost beach-front properties went to locals – that’s because out-of-towners prefer absolute beach front.
Kerry Low, from Bayleys Gisborne, last week sold a house on Pare St in Wainui at auction for $1.653m, $600,000 above RV, to a local family.
There were nine bidders, including people from Auckland, Wellington, Coromandel and Raglan but it was nice the Gisborne buyer won the 90-year-old four-bedroom home only a 20 metre walk to the beach and still with breath taking, expansive views, she says.
A large home in Mt Maunganui, Tauranga, fetched $2.69m at auction. Photo / Supplied
“I tell people don’t ever under-estimate a local buyer because they can see quality or value for money as well.
“The gentleman that owned it has had ownership for 48 years. It was an old house but it had been well looked after and well loved.
“The new owners are a lovely family with younger children so it will just be perfect for them.”
It is a bit unusual for a home so close to the beach to sell to locals, she says, and another recent beach front sale, by another agency, went to a keen surfer from Auckland – that one fetched over $2.7m.
There is a waiting list for beach front properties which don’t come up often, Low says.
“In that collection of buyers [from Pare Street] I’ve got people who will pay more money who are just hanging around for beach front.”
In Tauranga, a house on Justine Way in Mt Maunganui, about 500 metres from the beach, also sold at auction to a local buyer.
Simon Anderson, head of Bayleys Tauranga, says there was strong interest from families in the quality four-bedroom home with a huge 1059sq m section in the Omanu School zone.
Four bidders fought for the property, all of them local families and while bidding started at $2.1m the property ended up selling for $2.69m, more than a $1m over the $1.63 RV.
The property last sold in 2006 for $925,000.
But it was discreetly tucked away and as it was not absolute waterfront it did not attract the Auckland interest.
Anderson says the marketing agent, Conrad Doyle from Bayleys Mt Maunganui, does have a beach front property coming up but is holding off listing it until Auckland comes out of alert level four.
