A two-bedroom bach on the water of little-known Big Bay Road, on Auckland’s Awhitu Peninsula, the southern side of the Manukau Harbour, sold for a stunning $1.475 million as 10 bidders fought for their summer holiday spot.
Barfoot & Thompson listing agents Barbara and Stanley Armon said that buyer feedback had been around the $950,000 to $1m price point for the completely renovated bach with two sleepouts and its own legal jetty, but 10 minutes of bidding shot right past that price.
“You just ignore the ridiculous CV of $440,000,” Stanley Armon said.
“It hit the heart of Aucklanders, people who have no idea where Awhitu even is, but we’re within the Auckland boundary. We had people from Karaka, people from Waiheke Island who have been blown away by prices there.
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“This is like Waiheke 20 years ago. People actually send our video of the region to friends overseas. We’ve now got to find places for the nine people who missed out, they all want to be here.
“And the new owners will be in by Christmas, it settles December 17.”
Buyers for the bach on Big Bay Road came from as far as Waiheke Island, as 10 bidders drove the price to nearly $500,000 above expectations. Photo / Supplied
The sale comes in one of the busiest weeks – and month – of auctions for Auckland’s biggest real estate agency, Barfoot & Thompson.
Chief executive Peter Thompson reported November figures showed a return to almost pre-Covid sales numbers and no let-up in price increases.
“That’s just as expected. I predicted last month that volumes would go up, prices would go up and more listings would give people a greater choice.
“There’s a slight slow-down in under-the-hammer sales at auctions because vendors are facing more competition, so they have to be more realistic about prices.”
Around 62% of properties listed by the company are sold by auction, with the 417 auctions in the last week of November more than double the 184 of November last year.
Just over 736 properties sold under the hammer in the month, and with nearly 550 auctions in the first week already, December is set to be a record-breaking month.
An original four-bedroom 1940s home on Pukeora Avenue, Remuera, sold for $3.73m. Photo / Supplied
An auction this week of a smart townhouse in Wolsley Avenue, Milford, was typical, Thompson said, of the current mood: bidding started at $1.2m and three bidders pushed the price to $1.47m with 20 to 25 bids, comfortably over its 2017 CV of $1.125m.
Thompson said that the average time a property is on the market is around 38 days, giving buyers more time to look around. And while the real estate industry is still working through how changes in Auckland to the red traffic light will work, he said it will open up viewings a bit more.
“A lot of listings will come on the market in the new year, and January through to March will be much the same as October and November this year.
Barfoot & Thompson auctioneer Marion Tolich said that the past weeks’ auction numbers were the biggest she’d seen in her 22-year career, even for the traditionally busiest months, but lots were taking longer as buyers pause to decide if they’ll carry on bidding.
“There’s definitely more for buyers to choose from, following a big rush of owners seeing the upward trajectory. Owners see something selling for $1.8m last month and think they’ll get $1.9m this month, so the gaps are big.
Bidders pushed the price of this villa of four flats on Arcadia Road, Epsom, zoned for apartments in double grammar zone, to $3.46m. Photo / Supplied
“The number of bidders has halved, now you’re lucky to get two or three bidders. Buyers have heard the big numbers and are a bit nervous.”
Tolich said in-demand properties such as beautifully renovated villas and bungalows were doing well once savvy buyers did the math on the time and cost to do their own renovations, and developers were picking good properties with potential.
Buyers pushed the price of a four-bedroom 1950s property on Pukeora Avenue in Remuera to $3.73m, well above its $2.875m ratings valuation. The house, in its original condition and on the market for the first time in nearly 60 years, was in sought-after double grammar zone on a generous 1290sqm site zoned for suburban development.
Another development site, a huge villa currently divided into four flats on Arcadia Road in Epsom, achieved $3.46m, well above its $2.275m ratings valuation. Zoning for apartments and 653sqm in double grammar zone were the draws.
Tolich said properties in the $3.5m to $5.5m price range were still selling well as buyers were not restricted as much by finance as first-home buyers were, and that any of the ‘wow’ properties were still doing as well as they were earlier in the year.
