While Remuera has plenty of buyers snapping up homes from $6 million to well over $10m, there are also entry-level homes that have sold in the last few months in the double grammar zone suburb for under $1m.
Ray White Remuera agent Trent Colyer says while he specialises in higher-end properties, his clients often have a portfolio of investment properties that he markets for them or helps them buy.
Case in point is the two-bedroom townhouse on the lower end of Portland Road that he sold in March for $765,000. It is one of Remuera’s most desirable blocks, Colyer says, because it is so well managed.
“I’ve probably sold a dozen here over the years, there are lots of repeat investors buying in there,” he says.
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What has changed more recently is the profile of the buyer; this time the place sold to an owner-occupier.
“You do get people who value the schooling, who may turn up with one or two young children. They will balance off living in a more compact environment to get into the good schools. For people from other countries who value education, [double grammar zone] is the real destination.”
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The north-facing unit had been recently renovated with a smart kitchen and new carpet and Colyer had pitched the place to singles, couples, small families, people looking for a lock-up-and-leave city foothold as well as downsizers and investors.
“Our business does the range. You get a family into their first property, and then you’re handling all their real estate,” he said.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Di Martens, who recently marketed another Portland Road flat in the next-door block for an estate, says it attracted mostly first-home buyers. The 1970s cross-lease two-bedroom unit had a CV of $840,000, records show, and had sold 23 years ago for $160,000.
A neighbouring Portland Road townhouse sold in March for $765,000. It was recently renovated. Photo / Supplied
“You do get the do-up opportunists looking for a steal,” she says. The unit had three good offers and sold in July for $665,888, but Martens says more of these properties are being sold by auction as buyer demand grows and the market starts to move.
Barfoot & Thompson colleague Kathy Bower, who represented the buyer, says that while they were an investor, it was unusual in this market. Her buyer had been looking at another block further along Portland Road.
“I don’t know if this would be the cheapest [in Remuera], but it did need a lot of work. The biggest worry in Portland Road is the flooding, so this is well above the road.
“We’re short of listings, there’s so many nice young people out there looking, there are not many investors around. It happened in such a rush,” she says.
A newly-refurbished, two-bedroom apartment on 1A/9 Furneaux Way, Remuera, is looking for offers over $965,000. Photo / Supplied
A flat at 1/137 Portland Road, Remuera, has an asking price of $899,000. Photo / Supplied
OneRoof records show just over a dozen properties in Remuera are looking for under $1m – with only two stating asking prices.
A two-bedroom place at 1/137 Portland Road, marketed by Barfoot & Thompson agents Sherry Shao and Macauley Seo, listed since April, is asking $899,000. The recently renovated flat has a new kitchen and bathroom, and new carpet.
Ray White agents Tanya Kwasza and Bryan Santos are marketing a newly-refurbished two-bedroom apartment on 1A/9 Furneaux Way at the Newmarket end of Remuera, asking for offers over $965,000. OneRoof records show the 82sqm corner apartment with a double garage and contemporary kitchen, has a CV of $970,000 and last sold three-and-a-half years ago for $824,000.
Other properties in that price range on James Cook Crescent and MacMurray Road are being auctioned later this month.
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