The owners of a rundown property with development potential were left gobsmacked after it sold under the hammer last week for $1.01 million.
The sale price was more than $300,000 above the reserve and the result of an unexpected bidding frenzy, which saw 14 buyers place a combined 135 bids.
The Barfoot & Thompson auction of the three-bedroom home on Imrie Avenue, in Mangere, in Auckland, was brought forward by two weeks after the beneficiaries of the deceased estate accepted an offer of $702,000.
The family had no idea that the property was going to attract the heat that it did, and that they were going to be ending the day $308,000 happier.
Start your property search
Claps and cheers filled the auction room when the hammer finally came down 14 minutes after the bidding kicked off.
Listing agent Fatima Ali saying the family had not been expecting such a huge result.
Read more:
- ‘Please don’t intimidate each other’: Buyers told to behave at heated auction
- 128 bids as first-home buyers go hard for ‘ordinary’ South Auckland home
- Misery pays: Auction win for South Auckland divorce house
“There were a million thank yous,” she said, adding: “The property was in the family for more than 60 years, so it held quite a lot of sentimental values for them.”
Since last week's sale other agents have been asking Ali if she had buyers for any of their properties. Other owners also want to list their homes after hearing the sale price.
“I had some of my colleagues texting me and asking if it was in Remuera or Mangere.”
Ali said most of those bidding on the property including the eventual winner had been developers, which showed they were back in the market and actively buying.
The 756sqm property, which is zoned mixed housing urban, and Ali been pitched it as a property with potential: "Revamp, Demolish or Develop and enjoy the benefits!" she said in her listing.
Property traders and first-home buyers also registered for the auction but dropped out quite early in the bidding.
“At the end of the day, look no one can compete with a developer because they’ve got bigger pockets really.”
The Imrie Avenue home had been owned by the same family for 60 years. Photo / Supplied
The auction for an uninhabitable cottage on Redoubt Road, in Totara Park, also went 'nuts' with the property selling for $1.66m. Photo / Supplied
A further sign of a revival in the Auckland development market, another deceased estate caused a similar uproar when it sold for hundreds of thousands above reserve at a Harcourts auction last week.
Harcourts salesperson Harsh Kathuria said the two-bedroom home on Redoubt Road, in Totara Park, was unliveable and the 12 registered bidders all wanted it for the 6080sqm section.
“It had to be demolished and the auction went nuts.”
Kathuria said developers and investors were both back on the hunt, he said, and those looking at the property were either looking at developing it, building a home and income or land banking.
A developer eventually secured it for $1.66m, he said.
Ray White Manukau Charlier Brothers said developers were back, but they are being cautious and many are still looking for bargains.
Brothers said the two properties being advertised as must-sell deceased estates would have helped draw people into the room thinking they would get a deal.
He pointed out that not all development properties are in high demand and there are some that were picked up at the peak of the market that are still not selling because the price needed is more than anyone is willing to pay.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Auckland
