- Two expats drove the price of a Waiheke Island bach to $2.765 million at auction.
- The property, listed with a low reserve of $2.2m, sold for $565,000 over.
- Ray White’s Matthew Smith noted increasing interest from Australian buyers in Waiheke properties.
Two expats have pushed the price of an “old school” bach well above its declared reserve of $2.2 million.
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The two determined buyers – one expat Kiwi living in Australia, the other expat living in America – went head-to-head at the auction of the four-bedroom beachfront property on Waiheke Island.
The property, which came with a boathouse and two moorings in the island’s coveted Arran Bay, ended up selling for $2.765m – $565,000 more than the vendor had been willing to accept.
The bach had been on the market for more than six months but was relisted as an auction campaign at the end of October.
Ray White Waiheke owner Matthew Smith believed that advertising the property with a low reserve did the trick and helped get people through the door.
“People can’t see value until they go there and by going there you see the value and then you are happy to pay for it,” he said.
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“If we still had it at the previous asking price of $2.995m, I don’t think anyone would have even looked at it even though it sold close to that.”
The expat Kiwi living in Australia flew over especially to view the house and made a pre-auction offer of $2.5m, bringing the sale forward.
However, the expat Kiwi living in the US also had the property in their sights and both battled it over the phone over 68 bids.
The Australia-based buyer won in the end.
Smith said Arran Bay was a popular area on the island’s eastern side and properties in the gated seaside community rarely came up for sale. The vendors had owned the bach for 24 years and had put it on the market for personal reasons.
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom beachfront property in Arran Bay has been owned by the vendors for 24 years. Photo / Supplied
It comes with its own boathouse and two moorings. Photo / Supplied
“Without those personal reasons, it wouldn’t even have been available now,” Smith told OneRoof.
He said the beachfront property had everything people wanted.
“It’s an absolute lifestyle property, it just gives you the ultimate lifestyle of privacy and ultimate beachfront living.”
Auctioneer Mark Sumich told those at the auction that it was “old school Waiheke”, adding that while it “maybe a tad tired” it was in its own microclimate and community. The new owners were also able to move in before Christmas.
Smith said interest from Australian buyers in properties on the island had been getting stronger. Another person looking to relocate had shown interest in “almost apartment-style living” property he was selling at 5 Karu Street, in Oneroa.
The modern four-bedroom, three-bathroom home would be a good property for overseas buyers as it was low maintenance and walking distance to the ferry and shops, he said.
Another Australian-based buyer has shown interest in a property on Karu Street, in Oneroa. Photo / Supplied
The sellers are also open to leaving their Sealegs for the right price. Photo / Supplied
The sellers would also throw in their Sealegs – an amphibious craft – for the right price, he said, so the purchasers could just drive down the road and onto the boat ramp which was just 350m away, he said.
“You get quite different attributes [compared to Arran Bay] – you get proximity to everything and are facing north rather than facing east. So you don’t get all the attributes of living on the waterfront but you get easy access to it and easier access to get to and from the house. Friends can come over from town and can just walk up from the ferry to the property whereas you certainly can’t do that at Arran Bay so they are quite different products.”
5 Karu Street is being sold at auction on December 1 and has had price feedback in the high $2ms and low $3ms.
- Click here to find more properties for sale on Waiheke Island
