A stylish villa in Auckland's Devonport sold at auction this week for $5.175 million, almost $1.4 million more than it last traded for three years ago.
The four-bedroom villa on Cheltenham Road had been renovated from top to toe since it was bought in December 2018 for $3.81m - a sum that was $410,000 above its 2017 CV.
The north-facing property was marketed by Bayleys agent Linda Simmons and achieved one of the highest sale prices in Auckland's auctions this week.
While new figures released this week by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand showed a slowdown in the city's housing market, auction results highlighted strong demand for top-end properties - but not much else.
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As of Friday morning, Barfoot & Thompson’s top auction price this week was $5.1m, paid for a four-bedroom transitional villa on Kingsview Road, in Mount Eden. The house was picked up after just 13 days on the market.
Agent Ketiesha Elliott, who marketed the property with Frank Excell, said that there was an offer on the double grammar-zoned house in the first week of open homes, but it was a second offer which brought the auction forward. Three bidders competed for the house, after 51 groups viewed the property over the two weekends of open homes.
“That’s the difference at this end of the market. There are people who really want to live in Mount Eden and they are ready to move with that sort of cash,” she said.
However, the first home buyer end of the market is a different story.
She said a two-bedroom unit that was seeking between $600,000 and $800,000 had just two people at the open homes. "First home buyers just can’t get finance and that needs to change. It’s ridiculous, a nightmare for them.”
Elliott said that motivated vendors who needed to move were still selling.
A luxury penthouse, one of just three in a sought-after block on Judge Street, Parnell, sold for $5.325m. Photo / Supplied
Two other properties at Barfoot & Thompson's auctions this week broke the $3m barrier: a 1960s brick and tile on a 2.9ha site at Mill Road, in Bombay, near Pukekohe, sold for $3.2m and a sprawling renovated six-bedroom house on 940sqm on St Heliers Bay Road, in St Heliers, sold for $3.827m.
Also selling for a high sum was a large Californian bungalow on Ngapuhi Road, in Remuera, which Bayleys brought to market for the first time in 50 years. It sold for $4.59m.
Bayleys agent Gary Wallace, who marketed the property with Vicki and Andrew Wallace, said that there was a pre-auction offer of $4.05m on the table after the first weekend of open homes, and five bidders registered for the auction.
“Buyer feedback had been around the $4m mark, so when it had three bidders fighting at the end, it took everyone by surprise,” he said.
A villa in Kingsview Road, Mount Eden, sold under the hammer for $5.1m. Photo / Supplied
What wasn’t surprising, Wallace added, was the speed of buyers moving at that end of the market.
“It’s very property specific. It was bought by a young family, they couldn’t lose on it.”
He said that while buyers move quickly, more were looking for variations which gave them a longer settlement time in order to sell their existing home, as banks have toughened up on bridging finance.
Another $3m-plus sale at Bayleys auctions was of a stylish modern three-bedroom home with a pool on Rata Street, in Oneroa, on Waiheke Island. The house, which was marketed by Mana Tahapehi, had a CV of just $1.55m but sold for $3.37m.
While other Waiheke and northern beach properties passed in at the auctions, a contemporary four-bedroom house on 1,603sqm on Point Wells Road, near Omaha and Matakana, fetched $2.85m. And a three-bedroom townhouse in a gated Parnell complex on Balfour Road with a lap pool and landscaped grounds which went for $3.2m.
The top disclosed prices this week at Ray White’s auctions were the $5.325m paid for a penthouse apartment on Judge Street, in Parnell, and $4.9m for a three-bedroom traditional house with a second two-bedroom home on Waiata Avenue, in Remuera.
Ray White Remuera agent Alex Babukhin, who marketed the Lawrence Sumich-designed Judge Street penthouse, one of just three in a sought-after block, said that only qualified buyers had been shown through.
Buyers paid $4.9m for a house on Waiata Road, Remuera. Photo / Supplied
“We had 50 private viewings, that’s more than open homes. People were expecting it would go for high $4m, maybe reach $5m, but there were five bidders and it was very strong competition,” he said.
Babukhin said that he had sold the property to the vendor ten years ago (OneRoof records show that price was $2.7m) but this was a block that rarely came to market.
“Some of the buyers, they have a Sumich-designed house so wanted his apartment. People know these don’t come up very often. Some of them wanted to buy it now and rent it out for a few years, just to secure it until they were ready to downsize from the big family home.
“Apartments are just so limited in the area, people know the opportunity when they see it.
“If I had another $6m apartment, I could sell it tomorrow.”
A large family home in Ngapuhi Road, Remuera, on the market for the first time in 50 years sold for $4.59m. Photo / Supplied
He added that the $4m to $6m end of the market was going very well, but the lower price points had taken a big hit, with buyers struggling to assemble finance.
Ray White Parnell agent Lisa Stone, who marketed the Waiata Avenue property, was even blunter.
“It’s crazy, but it’s easier to sell a $5m property at the moment than a $2m one,” she said, adding that there were still a lot of buyers at the upper level who would not sell their home until they’d bought the next one.
“We had 57 people at the open home. Feedback was around the high $3m to $4m, but I think a lot of that was wishful thinking. People are going in thinking it’s a buyers' market, but for a very particular sort of house, it’s not.”
Buyers move fast when they spot what they want. The successful bidder had seen the home only once, at the last weekend of open homes, but pushed the bidding past the $4.4 m pre-auction offer to $4.9m.
“Buyers are very particular, though,” Stone said.
