A two-bedroom cottage on a small section in Auckland’s Parnell sold under the hammer last week for $4.3 million.
Three bidders drove up the price of the property, showing the strength of demand for smartly renovated homes close to Auckland city centre.
The 127sqm home, which sits on a 297sqm section on Elam Street, has a CV of $3.3m and was announced on the market by Barfoot & Thompson at $3.525m during what was a very intense but very short auction.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Leila MacDonald, who marketed the property with her son David, said it was the immaculate condition and style of the two-bedroom cottage that drew buyer interest.
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“The vendor was not in Auckland very much, it had hardly been lived in. It was immaculately done to a very, very high standard, it was all on one level, a lot of people had been through,” she told OneRoof this week.
MacDonald said that quality properties like Elam Street were doing well in the current market, with buyers out in force, although she noted that some potential vendors were holding off until after next month’s election.
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“They all seem to be waiting. Quite a few say that if Labour gets back in they’re out of New Zealand,” she said.
The Elam Street sale probably had an impact on the auction of another two-bedroom cottage in Parnell. Earlier this week, OneRoof reported that a run-down, uninhabitable house on neighbouring Alberon Street sold for $1.355m after an intense auction fight.
That property, which was marketed by Barfoot & Thompson agents Wendy Sadd and Michele Ballinger, sat on a 253sqm section and had been pitched to buyers as a dare.
Inside the renovated cottage on Elam Street. Photo / Supplied
Another cottage on a small Parnell section sold this week for $1.355m. Photo / Supplied
Buyers were also active at other auctions around Auckland.
A four-bedroom house on a 766sqm section on Grande Avenue, in Mount Albert, sold last week for $2.615m – $500,000 above CV. The classic bungalow had attracted a pre-auction offer within a week of hitting the market, and had seen some 100 groups through its open homes.
Ray White agent Richard Thode, who marketed the property with colleague Andrew Milne, said homes on Grande Avenue rarely came to market. The vendors had been there for 28 years and one of the bidders at the auction was a neighbour who had wanted to secure the place for their son.
“The views are incredible, it’s a standout street. We weren’t expecting that many people,” he said
“A lot of people had already sold and were renting. They’ve been sitting on their hands waiting for the market to be at the bottom. Some had sold in Grey Lynn and Westmere, and were expecting to find more for their money in Mount Albert.”
Thode said that while he had between five and 10 listings due to come market after the election, he expected to sell more than that in September. “We’re having a very good September, but without listings we’re not back to 2021 volumes,” he said.
A four-bedroom bungalow on Grande Avenue, in Mount Albert, sold under the hammer for just over $2.6m. Photo / Supplied
A renovated home on First Avenue, in Kingsland, fetched $2.9m at auction. Photo / Supplied
Also in Mount Albert, developers snapped up a former dairy with an attached 1920s home on a 687sqm site on Woodward Road for $1.815m – $115,000 above CV. On the market for first time in 38 years, the property was marketed by Barfoot & Thompson agents Wilmon Fernandes and Piyush Setia as having potential for terrace housing with commercial spaces on the ground floor.
Fernandes said the auction attracted six registered bidders, all of them small-scale developers, but he could not disclose details of the buyer, who had been brought by Bayleys agent Shobit Mehta.
In First Avenue, in Kingsland, Ray White agent Robyn Ellson sold an architect-renovated house for $2.9m.
Ellson said the winning bidder was a young professional who had returned from overseas and really wanted to live in the Kingsland area and was waiting for the right home.
“Not many homes like this one popped up in the area, so when it did we really thought it would become theirs,” she said.
“The sellers had lived in Kingsland for 17 years. They bought it in 2006 and fully renovated it and poured their heart and soul into it, so it was great to see them get the price they deserved.”
Ellson said auctions had been performing well in the last three months, with 11 out of 12 properties she had brought to auction selling.
She added the outlook for spring was positive. “Things are selling at really good prices. We’re well out of the bottom of the market.”
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