A sprawling seven-bedroom mansion that some thought would break price records in West Auckland has finally sold.
The trophy home on Kauri Point Road, in Laingholm, in the Waitakere Ranges, hit the market more than a year ago, but had struggled to land a buyer.
It had dropped in price from $8.975m to $7.5m and then to $7m, before it sold last month for undisclosed price.
When contacted by OneRoof, the listing agent, Paul Sissons, of New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty, declined to reveal the sale price, except to say it was sold at a “substantial discount”.
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The late owner had paid a record-breaking $9.55m for the home in 2016.
Agents spoken to by OneRoof said that the top end of the market in West Auckland had performed well, despite the challenges faced by the Laingholm mansion.
Just before Christmas last year, a buyer paid $6.9m at auction for a five-bedroom 700sqm Mediterranean-style home on a 1.68ha estate on Huia Road, in Titirangi.
Another seven residential properties in the West Auckland have sold for more than $3m over the last 12 months.
Ray White agent Craig Smith, who marketed the Huia Road property, told OneRoof that demand for top end properties in the region was still buoyant.
In May, he sold a five-bedroom home on an 8817sqm section on Shaw Road, in Oratia, for $3.68m - more than $1.4m above its CV.
A five-bedroom mansion on Huia Road, in Titirangi, West Auckland, sold for $6.9m at auction. Photo / Supplied
“Interest was profound,” Smith said, noting that he had 11 bidders at the auction.
“About half our buyers came from our database, the rest from the city. The buyers were Kiwis returning from Australia. It was a nice piece of land.”
He said that buyers from outside West Auckland were helping to push up prices for top properties, adding that since the Shaw Road sale, two other Oratia properties had sold off market for nearly $4m each.
He said that he was now door-knocking similar properties for the 10 bidders who missed out on Shaw Road
“I’m saying to homeowners, ‘if I could get you close to $4m would you sell?’ Some are happy, others think their places are worth more.”
Smith said that, unlike many other parts of the city, Oratia values are holding up as people are discovering the rural lifestyle of the area, but just 10 minutes from office hubs.
A lifestyle block on Shaw Road, in Oratia, West Auckland, sold under the hammer for $3.68m. Photo / Supplied
"Values are starting to increase, people are starting to compare it with Coatesville, or Waimauku or parts of Riverhead,” he said, adding that price rises are starting to spill into nearby Glen Eden, where a modern four-bedroom home on Foothills Lane sold under the hammer for $1.945m this week.
“There were three bidders. We tried to get it to $2m, but it’s still the highest price for a residential non-development site in Glen Eden,” Smith said. The property had a CV of $1.75m.
City prices have crept to the north-west, too. Ray White Remuera agent Harry Champtaloup had a striking modern four-bedroom house on Karemoana Drive, Te Atatu Peninsula, which sold just after auction in May for $4.9m.
The vendor, who had paid $4.1m for the property in November, had updated it with high tech smart-home technology and decorating, before putting it back on the market.
“Te Atatu on the water is a very desirable location, I had a lot of buyers from Herne Bay, Westmere and Point Chev looking to upsize,” Champtaloup said.
“They get a bit more bang for their buck, and with work from home the commute doesn’t seem to be an issue. It’s a cool culture out there.”
He said the striking house attracted crowds at the open homes, plenty of whom were shopping with $4m plus budgets. He is now bringing a more modest completely overhauled four-bedroom house on nearby Capstan Court to auction on June 29, and said the property was attracting buyers with $1.5m budgets.
This luxury home on Karemoana Drive, in Te Atatu Peninsula, West Auckland, was snapped up last month. Photo / Supplied
Demand for waterfront property was what is driving high prices in Whenuapai and Herald Island, in Auckland’s north-west coast, said Harcourts Agent Sue Noonan.
A property she sold on the water at Totara Road, Whenuapai fetched $3.37m in March, while another property on the same road that she had sold two years ago for $2.275m fetched $3.2m this April.
"Totara Road and Pohutukawa Road are Whenuapai’s prime roads. Land sizes are a bit bigger - anything with water view or access, or a jetty are very popular, but they don’t come up very often,” Noonan said.
“You’ll get no better value than out here and buyers are doing their homework,” she said, adding that CVs still bear no relationship to the sales prices.
“Lovely quality properties could go for $4m or $5m. Last year, a pair of big lifestyle [9600sqm and 1.12ha] properties sold for $4m and $7m.”
