Three neighbouring Christchurch homes taken to auction on the same day have sold for a combined total of $3.7 million.

One of the homes was scooped up by an Auckland woman who was planning to move to the South Island, while the other two were purchased by locals who had been looking to get into the new Prestons Park subdivision.

A fourth property up for grabs on the same street failed to meet the reserve at Thursday’s auction and now has an asking price of $1.249m.

The four owners of the new and near-new builds on Timara Crescent, in Marshland, had found themselves in the unusual position of vying for the same pool of buyers.

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For three of them, that was the plan all along. Their listing agent, Harcourts’ Andrew Steel, said he had brought the properties to auction on the same day in the hope of attracting more buyers.

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His colleague Jonny Nicholls had also listed a slightly larger lived-in property a few doors down and ran his marketing campaign over the same three-week period.

The tactic was for the most part successful, with seven bidders turning up at Harcourts Grenadier’s auction room on Thursday.

Steel had already sold about 20 properties in the subdivision, including five houses on Timara Crescent, so knew what to expect.

On the first Sunday of his campaign, about 40 groups came through the open homes. “It worked really well. Some people went through all three homes,” Steele told OneRoof.

A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Timara Crescent sold for <img.43m at auction making it the highest sale on the street so far. Photo / Supplied

The two properties on Timara Crescent that were direct neighbours with lake views attracted the same buyers. Photo / Supplied

A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Timara Crescent sold for <img.43m at auction making it the highest sale on the street so far. Photo / Supplied

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Timara Crescent which scored the highest price was arguably the most high spec of the four properties. Photo / Supplied

The first home to sell under the hammer was a three-bedroom property with lake views. It was picked up by the Auckland buyer for $1.32m after strong competition from two other eager bidders, who were also registered to bid on the three-bedroom house next door.

However, the highest bid wasn’t enough to secure the home and the property passed in at $1.1m.

The four-bedroom, two-bathroom home a few doors down had better luck. A local family picked it up for $1.0175m after making just two bids.

Bidding on Nicholls’ listing, a large four-bedroom home on the other side of the street, opened at $1.2m, with three locals competing to secure the home. The winning bid was $1.432m.

Nicholls believed the sale price was the highest for the street. He said it was well-deserved because the house was high spec and the owners had a knack for good design and an eye for detail.

The Prestons Park subdivision launched six years ago and Timara Crescent is one of the latest areas to be developed.

The area, which is about a 15-minute drive from the CBD, is zoned for Marshland School and has been popular with professional couples, retirees and families.

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