A luxury bach in the beach town of Omaha sold under the hammer for $6.35 million - more than $1.2m above the reserve.
The sale of the waterfront property at Omaha Drive was brought forward a week by a pre-auction offer of $5.1m, but 11 registered bidders pushed the price up in a short sharp 15-minute auction.
The listing agent, Bayleys' Victoria Turner, said that the bach had been in the same family since it was built 20 years ago.
“Who says you can’t sell property in level 3?” Turner said, adding that this lockdown-with-borders had just made Aucklanders even keener to secure property in the beachside suburb that was still within the city limits.
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“This is a record for harbourside Omaha. In February the next-door house went for $4.62m, so that shows you that the gap is narrowing between harbourside and ocean front here.”
The gap is narrowing between prices for properties on the harbourside of Omaha compared to ocean side. Photo / Supplied
Turner said that she was now working with the 10 underbidders, who were still determined to find a beach house, and hotly competing for the few properties in the tightly-held enclave that reach the market.
A relative of the owners had earlier told OneRoof that the multi-generational home, positioned overlooking the Whangateau Harbour with panoramic water views, had adapted to all the ages, stages and needs of a family that over time has included an older generation, younger people, children and dogs.
“Everything about the house has always just seemed to fit,” she said.
The carefully maintained house has a new kitchen, interior painting and a repaint of the roof and came with both a double garage, and a separate boat shed with toilet and outdoor shower.
The 257sqm house featured high, curved ceilings, timber detailing and polished concrete floors, living rooms on both the upper and lower floors and a spacious enclosed courtyard featuring an outdoor fireplace.
The house overlooks Whangateau Harbour on the Omaha peninsula. Photo / Supplied
The sale follows two other big-ticket sales in Omaha since lockdown, with a waterfront property at the southern end of the beach at Inanga Lane selling off-market for a record $7.75m, with a neighbouring property going to auction tonight and likely to break that. OneRoof understands a property on the northern end of the beach is also about to settle for a price well above $7.5m.
Demand for lifestyle properties spreads beyond Auckland.
At a Bayleys auction last week, a sprawling four-bedroom 400sqm home on Windmill Road, Tamahere on the edge of Hamilton sold for $3.25m after a pre-auction offer.
A 8600sqm estate in Windmill Road, Tamahere, near Hamilton sold for $3.25m. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Angela Finnigan, who marketed the luxury property on more than 8600sqm of land, said that while it didn’t match the $4m price record for the area, it showed that high-end properties were in huge demand.
“We’re getting lots of enquiries from Aucklanders who are prepared to go in sight unseen. With video walk-throughs, valuations and checking by friends or family.
A mid-century house on the market for the first time since 1952 in Temple Street, Meadowbank sold for $3.627m. Photo / Supplied
“People with $2m to $3m to spend, they want to go back to the land, have room for the kids to run around and the house that feels like a resort.”
At Ray White auctions last week, a four-year-old four-bedroom architecturally-designed house of over 325sqm on Coates Avenue, Orakei sold for $4.9m, more than $2m above its council ratings valuation, while a classic 1950s four-bedroom house on the market for the first time since 1952 sold for $3.627m. The Temple Street, Meadowbank home, which had views to the city, had a ratings valuation of $2.075m.
