Four cash buyers pushed the price of a lock-up-and-leave home in Auckland’s Remuera above its CV of $3.5 million.
The five-bedroom townhouse on Benson Road, on the suburb’s coveted northern slopes, was snapped up last week, after passing in at auction at the start of the month at $3.6m.
Listing agent Steve Koerber, from Ray White Remuera, declined to give the exact sale price but told OneRoof it was the first sale above $3m in Remuera since the start of July.
“People are nervous about overpaying. They still think they should buy below CV. That’s not the case,” he said.
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The buyers were new to Remuera, he said, and were moving from south-east Auckland to be closer to work and in more desirable school zones for their children.
The concrete block and cedar home had been designed by star architect Julian Guthrie. The vendor had bought it in 2019 for $3.2m, telling OneRoof earlier this month that he had given the selling agent back then just five hours to get the deal over the line.
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Even though the property had passed in, Koerber said the auction had worked in the vendor’s favour, and had set price expectations for buyers. “People are comfortable with the price they’re paying because the auction is proof the price is right. It was worth the waiting for two weeks,” he said.
The agent said he was seeing many of the same buyers at open homes, noting that they had been looking for some time. However, vendors were sitting on their hands, not realising there were good buyers out there who were desperate to strike a deal.
“Our data show that this is the first sale over $3m in Remuera since the start of July. Hopefully, this will set a trend.”
The Benson Road house was designed by leading Kiwi architect Julian Guthrie. Photo / Supplied
A villa on Rotomahana Terrace, in Remuera, sold under the hammer for $2.1m last week. Photo / Supplied
Koerber said that buyers were not just Remuera locals. People were coming from Ponsonby and Grey Lynn, in search of more land, or were trading up from One Tree Hill and Ellerslie to get their children in zone for Epsom Girls Grammar and Auckland Grammar.
Last week Koerber and wife Nila sold a four-bedroom villa on Rotomahana Terrace, in Remuera, for $2.1m under the hammer. The buyer, from One Tree Hill, had put in a pre-auction offer which brought the auction date forward, although they still faced strong competition from three other bidders.
“We had one buyer make a tip at this two or three times, they were very persistent. Some people have sold already, so there are some interesting chains. Remuera feels like we’re about to turn the corner, it’s not like it was in winter,” he said.
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