A renovated Christchurch home that no one wanted 12 months ago was in hot demand last week, with four people fighting over it within seven days of it hitting the market.
The lakefront home on Chilwell Place, in Halswell, attracted so much interest that an acceptable offer of $1.1 million was made within a few days and the auction date was brought forward.
Only two of the four registered bidders managed to put their hands up during Thursday’s auction and the hammer finally fell at $1.279m after 36 swift bids.
Harcourts Grenadier listing agent Lin Ma said it was a fast-paced auction that was over in two minutes.
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“They didn’t want to give up. The bidding was very fast because everybody was under pressure.”
Ma said it was a massive turnaround from a year ago when the same property failed to attract any bidders when it went to auction and subsequently passed in.
They pulled the home off the market before deciding to have another go at selling it at the start of this year due to a change in circumstances.
The owner paid $980,000 in February 2022, but had spent about $100,000 renovating it. The owners had great taste, Ma said, and had installed a new kitchen and bathrooms that everyone loved. It also had a great view of Westlake and a private backyard next to the reserve.
And while the owners had been unable to sell it for a profit last year, this year had been a completely different story with the owners walking away with $199,000 even after factoring in the cost of the renovation.
A $100,000 renovation had been carried out on the house, which included a new kitchen and bathrooms. Photo / Supplied
The home had a unique lake aspect and private backyard that buyers loved. Photo / Supplied
“It was a very good result,” Ma said, adding that prices seemed to be similar to back when they bought it two years ago.
“Compared to 2022, I think it [the market] is similar to that time. But it really depends on the property and how you are marketing it.” The sale price was also above the 2022 RV of $1.105m.
The new owners were a local couple looking to downsize and had made the acceptable brought-forward offer of $1.1m.
“They had to spend more, but they are so happy. They just love it, love it. It’s such a unique house.”
Ma believed the biggest change in the last year was that buyers were feeling more confident that the market had already hit the bottom last year and were also not expecting any further interest rate hikes.
“Last year people were worried the interest rates were still rising, that kind of thing.”
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