An Auckland couple more than doubled their money after a bidding war for their small Meadowbank townhouse broke out between first-home buyers and downsizers.
The vendors had paid just $630,000 for the three-bedroom concrete block house on Gowing Drive in 2014 but had carried out an impressive renovation that struck a chord with buyers at Ray White Remuera’s auction room on Tuesday.
Bidding opened at $1 million and quickly climbed, with almost all of the eight registered bidders putting their hands up for it.
The house was announced on the market at $1.31m but a “dark horse” buyer, who had entered the race at the tail end of the auction, threw down a winning bid of $1.315m - $75,000 above CV.
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Listing agent Matt Gibson said the new owner had been looking on and off for over a year and liked that the house was nice, safe and private. “It was great to see her get one,” he said.
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Some of the bidders kept their cards very close to their chests, he said. The new owner didn’t start bidding until bidding reached $1.275m, while another placed their first bid at $1.305m.
There were also two conditional bidders waiting in the wings ready to pounce if the house failed to sell at auction.
Gibson said the property was just another example of well-presented homes in good locations attracting plenty of interest. He had 70 groups view the home in three weeks.
“Meadowbank is a sought-after suburb and if you’ve got a nice house, it doesn’t matter what price point you are in, if the house is presented well and it’s nice and sunny and well-maintained then buyers will be there.
“They had done a really lovely job renovating it, it wasn’t a massive floor area, but they had utilised the space really well and done good quality renovations ... and that really showed.”
The Gowing Drive townhouse had undergone a high-quality renovation that appealed to a mix of buyers. Photo / Supplied
The improvements included a new kitchen, bathroom, decking and landscaping.
“Everything flowed and it was just really nicely presented and that’s why they got such a good response and such good interest in the auction.”
The owners were “stoked” with the result and had already purchased their next home, which was a larger do-up.
The street is now set to get two new owners in the space of a day after another property on Gowing Drive also sold under the hammer an hour later in the same auction room.
A renovated shingle-clad three-bedroom home sold for $1.171m after a single bid.
The property had been on the market for 10 days before the owners accepted an offer attractive enough to bring the auction forward. The property last changed hands for $408,500 in 2006, OneRoof records show.
Another Gowing Drive home was bought by a young professional couple wanting to purchase their first home in New Zealand. Photo / Supplied
The owner had carried out a full renovation of the single-level home before moving to Australia. Photo / Supplied
Ray White listing agent Ferne Butler said the home was picked up by a young professional couple wanting to buy their first home New Zealand.
Like the other property, it had also had a full renovation and was also single level which helped draw people in, she said. “It was like brand new inside. He had pretty much gutted it and it was just sensational. He had done it for himself, he didn’t do it as a speccy.”
Another freestanding property on Gowing Drive sold at auction two months ago for $1.412m to a sports player relocating from the Waikato to Auckland.
Butler said Gowing Drive and its surrounding streets were seen as a good location that was on a bus route and close to the train station. It was close to the Eastern Bay beaches and zoned for the popular St Thomas’s School, in Kohimarama.
She’s also selling a three-bedroom, one-bathroom freestanding property at 114 Gowing Drive that has been rented out for the last 20 years. The property has an RV of $1.6m, but the marketing for the property tells owners to disregard it.
The owners lived in Australia and were selling in New Zealand to invest in another property there, Butler said.
Gibson is also marketing a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 130G Gowing Drive. The three-level property is being marketed at first-home buyers, flat sharers, families and savvy investors.
Both of those Gowing Drive properties are being auctioned next week.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Meadowbank
