The beneficiaries of a Ngatea farm acquired by a relative more than 100 years ago for sheep and shearing hours have walked away with several hundred thousand dollars more than planned after a bidding war broke out at an auction this week.
The deceased estate sold under the hammer for $1.4 million yesterday, smoking the reserve price by at least $150,000. It also sold for $95,000 more than its September 2021 RV.
The 35-hectare farm with a tired old four-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage on Kaihere Road, in Ngatea, attracted six different bidders from South Auckland and all around the Waikato.
Bayleys listing agent Karl Davis said it sold well above the reserve and was one of the best auctions so far this year in the Bayleys Hamilton auction room with more than 30 bids placed.
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Bidding started at $800,000 and rose steadily in mainly $10,000 increments to $1.4m.
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“If people believe it will sell – and a deceased estate is a good example of that, a mortgagee sale is an example of that, a well-marketed property with urgency is an example of that – more people are likely to get involved because they believe it’s going to sell. They don’t want to spend time – if they think the vendor wants too much.”
If the property had been marketed with a sale price of $1.4m, Davis felt it would have only got a tenth of the interest and wouldn’t have sold for as high a price.
The winner was a retiring Waikato dry stock farmer who had been looking for a small farm to downsize to and had been looking for several years.
The property – which was a relatively standard size run-off for the area - also attracted interest from life-stylers, dairy farmers and land bankers.
But the fact it was marketed as a deceased estate showed they were serious about selling, he said, and probably helped draw people.
The dated property needed renovating. Photo / Supplied
The 35ha farm attracted wide-ranging interest from both Auckland and Waikato buyers. Photo / Supplied
Yesterday’s sale marked the first time the property had sold on an open market.
The 35ha section was acquired in ballot in the early 1900s before a shearer traded his time and some sheep in a form of contra-deal with the owner for the land.
Since that deal, the property has stayed in his family and had been passed down through the generations.
Davis said it was a great outcome and the proceeds would be split between 13 beneficiaries who were ecstatic with the result.
They achieved a premium result by auctioning it off and running a good far-reaching marketing campaign, he said. “It was a great outcome. It just shows the auction process is still alive and kicking and achieving amazing results in any market.”
Of the 14 properties called at Bayleys Hamilton’s auction rooms, only the Ngatea farm, two entry-level lifestyle properties in the Waikato and a Raglan bach sold on the day.
A 2.9ha lifestyle property on Wharepoa Road West in Kerepehi, advertised as having room for the kids, pigs and the beefies, sold to a first-home buyer who had family nearby for $760,000. While a 5000sqm lifestyle property on Clark Road in Ngaruawahia fetched $767,000.
Davis, who sold the Wharepoa Road property, said lifestyle properties became more popular after Covid lockdowns and were still in demand.
“So even though things have got harder lifestyle has probably held a little bit better than some of the residential values.”
At the peak of the market the Wharepoa Road property would have sold in the $900,000s, he said.
While there were still buyers around, he added, some properties weren’t selling because the vendors were holding onto prices from 18 months ago.
“A lot of reasons things aren’t selling because when you ask for something 18 months ago and the market has softened by 15% you are going to have a gap aren’t you.”
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