A mansion-style house in Auckland's Kohimarama sold under the hammer last week for $6.8 million - $200,000 above its 2021 CV.
The five-bedroom, five-bathroom house on Kohimarama Road first hit the market in November last year, by way of price by negotiation, but had languished for more than eight months until the vendors decided to switch tactics and put the property up for auction.
The tactic worked, with the $6.8 million sale price the second highest at auction this year and the second-highest overall for Auckland's Eastern Bay suburbs, following the sale of a brand-new mansion on Waimarie Street, in St Heliers, in July for more than $11m to an overseas buyer.
Three bidders competed for the family home last Thursday. Ray White listing agent Ross Hawkins believes the property would still be on the market if the vendors hadn't opted to go to auction.
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“The auction campaign put the timeframe on it, gave people a finished date to work to and got it done. That’s quite a key thing in the market at the moment – if you don’t actually work to a timeframe, they can just drag on,” he said.
The new owners had been looking for a home in the Eastern Bays for some time to move closer to their children’s schooling, Hawkins said, but they only viewed the property once it was marketed as sale by auction. The other interested parties were local families looking to upgrade and upsize, he added.
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“It just proved the power of auction, bringing it to a head and bring it to a date and creating the competition because we got it done at the auction.”
Hawkins said the current shortage of stock also helped achieve a premium price for the property as there were not many properties of that size or calibre for sale.
“There wasn’t a hell of a lot else on the market to choose from either, but it is a great house, a big house, it’s got big land, it’s 1255sqm of land and 540sqm of house with 178sqm of covered terraces as well so big living place, great for a decent-sized family.”
The home also had a pool and a self-contained downstairs unit suitable for guests or extended family members.
“It’s a good sale,” he said. “There’s such a lack of stock that if you’ve got good property now is the time to sell it because you don’t have a lot of competition.”
The substantial home also had a self-contained unit to suit extended family. Photo / Supplied
The home has views out to Rangitoto. Photo / Supplied
Ray White lead auctioneer Sam Steele said the agency was seeing an increase in the number of properties coming to market via auction, with 37.2% of all listings across the country now being sold by that method.
The number of people registering to bid at auction has also lifted to an average of 3.9 people, which is a 90% increase on the same time last year.
Steele said confidence is growing across the auction market and people are still keen to buy properties at auctions despite the stock shortage.
“This dynamic shift illustrates that despite tighter inventory levels, the market is resolute in its desire to engage in transactions through the transparent framework of auctions.”
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