A semi-completed “as is, where is” house on the cliffs above Auckland’s extremely desirable Cheltenham Beach failed to sell at a mortgagee auction today.
The three-bedroom bungalow on a 531sqm section at 84a Vauxhall Road in Devonport, which has a 2021 CV of $5.25 million, collected 10 bids during the Barfoot & Thompson auction this morning before pausing at $1.8m
Just prior to pausing the auction so further negotiations could be carried out, Barfoot & Thompson auctioneer Murray Smith told the room: “We can’t sell at $1.8m.”
Bidding for the shell of the house that doesn’t even have ceilings started at what Smith described as a “brutal” $1m before steadily rising in $100,000 increments to reach $1.7m. Those increments then halved to $50,000 between $1.7m to $1.8m.
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The auction then resumed at $2.1m with Smith saying that at that price “we will not be selling; we will be passing in”. With no further bids placed the property was then promptly passed in.
The OneRoof listing for the Vauxhall Road property, marketed by Barfoot & Thompson agents Philip Davis and Ari Tidyman, said buyers could either “finish the current project” or create their “own waterfront paradise”.
The property with impressive views is being sold as “as is, where is” and, according to the listing, was “under renovation with plans to be extensively upgraded with spacious open-plan living, outdoor decks and large basement area”.
The listing photos show evidence of the half-finished construction work. Photo / Supplied
It states that, according to the mortgagor, “major foundations and cliff stabilisation have been completed”.
The property had been listed for sale with Bayleys earlier this year and was owned by local developer Steve Barrett.
According to a 2016 report in the Devonport Flagstaff newspaper, his plans for the home involved turning the original one-storey, hipped-roof bungalow into a three-level five-bedroom, three-bathroom house, with a media game room, cellar bar, library and scullery.
Barrett's company, a boutique construction firm specialising in high specification architectural projects, is marked on the company's website as being located at 84A Vauxhall Road.
It is understood that work on the development stopped some time ago.
