An earthquake-damaged home in Redcliffs, Christchurch exceeded vendor and agent expectations after selling at auction last week for $562,000 – more than $70,000 above RV.
The listing agent for the two-bedroom Celia Street home, Bayleys’ Marilyn Still, told OneRoof that 11 bidders had registered for the auction last week.
“There were lots of people there wanting to bid, but it went up too fast,” she said. “The people bidding towards the end were people who wanted it to repair to either live in or to keep.”
The auction opened at $300,000 and eventually sold after a total of 31 bids. “The auction was an incredibly successful auction,” she said.
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She said the stand-alone property had attracted a swathe of interest from people – many of whom were hoping to buy it for a low price, repair it, reinsure it and then resell it.
It was sold “as is, where is”, although an earthquake claim had never been filed on the property.
Still explained that an earthquake-damaged property that had not been assessed by the Earthquake Commission (EQC) would not get insurance unless an engineer’s report confirmed it was structurally sound. Without full insurance, it is also difficult to get a mortgage. “That’s something that people up in the North Island don’t understand about Christchurch earthquake business,” Still said.
CoreLogic chief economist Kelvin Davidson said that “as is, where is” sales were a rarity in the Christchurch market, whereas 10 years go about one in 20 houses sold in the city were earthquake-damaged.
Most of the city’s earthquake-damaged properties had either been fixed or demolished, he said. “Redcliffs is on the side of the hill that was badly damaged [in the earthquakes] and there could be the odd ‘as, where is’ property kicking around but it would be the exception rather than the rule.”
Meanwhile, a large, renovated home on the Esplanade, in neighbouring Sumner, sold under the hammer for $3.5 million – more than $1.6m above RV.
A 1940s bungalow on Esplanade, in Sumner, has been transformed into a luxury home. It sold for $3.5m. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts Christchurch City agent Alison Aitken, who sold the five-bedroom, three-bathroom home, said there was strong demand for good properties in popular streets like the Esplanade, adding that on average only one property a year came up for sale on the street. “The Esplanade is the place to be if you can ever get in there,” she said.
The Esplanade property was owned by a craftsman builder who had both renovated and extended what was initially a 1940s bungalow to create a large modern family home.
There were six registered buyers and three people actively bidding at the auction.
Aitken said there weren’t many houses for sale in Sumner at the moment which was consistent with the winter months when stock was traditionally low. Most of the properties that had been on the market now had “sold” signs on them.
Sumner is a beach/ coastal suburb 20 minutes from Christchurch CBD. Aitken said people loved living the area’s energy. “It’s the community, it’s the vibe, it’s the beach, it’s the surf, it’s the shops, it’s the cafes, it’s the walks,” she said.
Still recently sold four-bedroom cottage in the suburb, on Clark Street, for $968,000. It was the first time the property had been on the market in 38 years and it was bought by a couple who lived in another area of Christchurch, but had wanted to move to Sumner.
Still said a lot of homes in Sumner had been damaged by the earthquake, but the area had been rebuilt and now boasted a new community centre and library.
A four-bedroom home on Clark Street, in Sumner, sold under the hammer last week for $968,000. Photo / Supplied
The recent sales in Sumner and Redcliffs highlight the continued strength in Christchurch’s auction market. Harcourts Gold managing director Chris Kennedy said that unlike in other parts of the country, auctions in Christchurch were still attracting a lot of buyers.
He pointed to the recent sales of two original do-ups by his agency – one in Englefield Road in Northwood, which fetched $702,000, and another in Maidstone Road in Ilam, which sold for $750,000.
Kennedy believed “opportunists” - whether they be developers, speculators or first-home buyers - were buying and trying to make a dollar. “People are showing more interest in my view in opportunity rather than completed properties,” he said.
“It’s people saying if I go along as a buyer and I get it, I’m going to be able to put my flair into it, put my taste into it – I may even make a dollar on the way through because I will tidy it up and do the work somebody is not willing to do.”
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