A large house next to one of Auckland’s prestigious private schools sold under the hammer last week for nearly $4.99 million - almost $1.5m above its CV.
Bayleys agent Angela Rudling, who marketed the five-bedroom house on Manor Park, in Sunnyhills, said the vendors had received a pre-auction offer within days of the house hitting the market.
“We didn’t really expect it because the market had been so sluggish. Even the top end had been challenging,” Rudling said.
“We found the right buyer, and then after a second open home, two more buyers. The sale price of $4.99m is nearly $1m above the initial offer.
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“We were thrilled by the results. There were over 100 bids with two buyers who really wanted to send their kids to St Kents,” she said.
The house, which last sold nine years ago for just over $2m, backs on to the grounds of St Kentigern College, where the tuition fees are just over $23,000 a year.
Rudling said that while the price was a testament to the quality of the house, and its prized location, the sale price was an indication of growing demand at the upper end of the market.
“It’s given us all a huge incentive to get on with it now and not hesitate. We’re now really confident we’ll get the best price,” she said, adding that using auctions, rather than off-market deals, really helped vendors get the best market price for their homes.
More auction sale prices over $3m last week point to a reviving spring market in other parts of Auckland.
Bayleys agent Linda Simmons, who marketed a trio of houses in seaside Devonport that sold under the hammer last week, said that good houses in good areas were selling well.
A four-bedroom villa on Vauxhall Road, close to Cheltenham and Narrow Neck beaches, had 70 groups through open homes and an offer after just one week, bringing the auction forward. Four bidders drove the price to $3.27m, $390,000 above the pre-auction offer and $695,000 above its CV.
Many of the same buyers looked at a four-bedroom bay-fronted villa with an up-to-the-minute renovation on Derby Street, which went to auction two days later. The house, which had no garage or off-street parking, sold for $3m, $525,000 above CV, after four bidders registered.
The third property, a smaller three-bedroom villa on Kiwi Road, sold for $2.13m, $155,000 above CV, after 50 groups viewed it at open homes.
“Last week was like last year,” said Simmons, adding that a mix of Devonport locals, returning expats and movers from other parts of Auckland helped to get the good results.
Vendors have taken note already, she said.
“People were hesitant, they didn’t want auctions. Now they’re going on the market, they want to go to auction. They see [auctions] have over-ridden the negative market sentiment,” she said.
At Barfoot & Thompson’s auctions last week, a smart three-bedroom bungalow on Margot Street, Epsom sold for $3.025m, $400,000 above CV, while a three-bedroom cottage-style bungalow on Pukehana Avenue, Epsom, billed as a do-up in double Grammar zone, sold for $2.991m. It had a CV of $3.025m.
However, a stylish four-bedroom villa with a pool in Horoeka Avenue, in Mount Eden’s double Grammar zone, passed in at $4.125m and is now on the market asking $4.3m.
And a villa divided into four flats with a second three-bedroom house on a 1329sqm site zoned for apartments on Morningside Drive, Morningside, passed in at $3.4m. OneRoof records show the property, which has a CV of $4.05m, changed hands 18 months ago for $3.075m.
The week’s bargains were a smartly renovated one-bedroom 1960s unit on Manukau Road, Epsom, that went for $330,000, despite its $630,000 CV, and a tidy four-bedroom house on a 645sqm site zoned for urban density on Bairds Road, Otara, that sold for $620,000, $160,000 less than its CV.