Ten years ago, you could pick up a standalone house in Stonefields for less than $1 million. Now, prices in the former quarry are close to hitting $3m.
At the start of the month, a four-bedroom home on Barbarich Drive sold under the hammer for $2.877m – an all-time record for the Auckland suburb.
The property beat the previous sale price record-holder – a five-bedroom home on Kauriki Terrace – by $500,000.
Ray White Remuera agent Gerard Charteris, who marketed the property with colleague Trent Colyer, said that more than 30 qualified buyers had viewed the property and that he had fielded strong offers to bring the auction forward.
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“As well as Stonefields, they were [bidders] from neighbouring suburbs of Remuera, the Bays and Meadowbank."
The sale price was $1m above CV and more than $1.3m above what the property last changed hands for in 2015.
Charteris said there was a real gap in the eastern suburbs market for four-bedroom homes under $3m, adding that the house was also a standout in Stonefields itself.
“There have been a lot of $2m-plus sales in Stonefields, but this house was ahead of its time. It is not a standard [Stonefields] house like a lot of the others built in 2010,” he said.
“The three-car garage was a big attraction, but people also like the neighbourhood, the school, the nice community.”
For homeowners in Stonefields, the sale is good news and reflects the intensity of demand for property in the suburb.
A terrace home on Briody Terrace sold for $2.2m in April. Photo / Supplied
The latest figures from the OneRoof-Valocity House Value Index shows the average property value for Stonefields hit $1.766m this month, up 4.7% in the last three months and 26.9% ($374,000) on November 2020.
Separate figures from Valocity show more than a dozen sales of $2m-plus, the majority of which have happened in the last 12 months. And the properties selling for a premium aren’t just standalone homes – terrace houses are also cracking $2m.
Ray White agent John Q, who has been selling in the suburb for eight years, netted $2.2m for the vendor of a four-bedroom terrace in April.
The 220sqm home on Briody Terrace, which sold off-the-plans in 2009 for $760,000 was only one of three in the run that had a park aspect.
“Properties that break records have a uniqueness – a park aspect or a corner, so should go for more than others,” he said.
“These bigger terraces are targeting both downsizers and young families who don’t mind less yard because there’s a park right across the road.
“People still have to understand what Stonefields offers, the community feel, a small secure neighbourhood. I don’t think it’s tapped out yet, it will continue to grow."
He estimated that there would be five or six other standalone houses that could easily get over $3m, depending on the size and the layout on superior streets.
At the entry level, he said his team just sold a one-bedroom ground floor apartment on Barbarich Drive for $735,000 – $55,000 more than it sold for in March last year.
“Two years ago we’d be selling these for $500,000, now there’s so much growth in apartments. People know they have to compromise to get into the starting block, then move up the ladder.”
