A smartly renovated two-bedroom villa in Auckland's St Marys Bay sold under this hammer this week for $4.025 million, more than $2m above the current market rate in the suburb.
In a sign that buyers in Auckland are still willing to pay a premium for well located properties, the 251sqm house on St Marys Road was snapped up in a matter of minutes at Bayleys auction on Thursday.
The property, which was listed with agent Luke McCaw, had been bought by the seller in 2013 for $1.72m and had a 2017 CV of $2.875m.
The $4m sale price is well above the $2m median sale price for two-bedroom houses in the suburb, but the villa's high-end makeover and appeal as lock-up and leave gave it advantage.
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Despite having only two bedroom, it boasted three bathrooms and an internal garage and study.
Also fetching big money at Bayleys' auction on Thursday was renovated three-bedroom home with studio on Waiheke Island.
The property, which sits on a 1454sqm site on Matai Road, in Oneroa, sold for $4.06m, more than five times the pre-renovation price of $682,000 paid 10 years ago.
However, the two properties were outliers, with the market for other homes on the roster much cooler than it was three to four months ago.
Bayleys chief auctioneer Conor Patton said that while there had been a clear shift in the market - the agency's clearance rate this week 44% – vendors weren't desperate.
A charming three-bedroom bach with a studio on Matai Road, Oneroa, Waiheke, sold for $4.06m. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve had a couple of short campaigns, with owners under pressure, but they are going in with their eyes open,” he said.
“They’re not trying to fly a kite to see what price they get. I'd say since the end of November, prices might have softened 4% but some buyers are going in expecting a 10% discount."
He added: “It’s hard for some owners when a neighbour’s house that’s comparable or inferior to theirs sold for more last year.
“We had one client who’d turned down $2.3m in December, brought it to auction last week and bidding only reached $2.05m. That’s a big thing to get their head around.”
Patton said that some buyers were still asking for longer settlements to allow them to sell their houses, but vendors were becoming wary of such deals.
“They’re saying, ‘What if things change between now and settlement?’ They’re more nervous.”
