A 1940s bungalow surrounded by some of New Zealand’s most expensive houses has hit the market for sale.
The three-bedroom home is on the waterfront in Auckland’s Westmere and is being pitched by the listing agents as an “affordable family home”.
26 Sunny Brae Crescent sits on a 781sqm section overlooking Meola Reserve and the estuary that flows into Waitemata Harbour. It is just a few blocks away from the mega-mansion being built by rich-lister Anna Mowbray and husband Ali Williams on Rawene Avenue.
Mowbray and Williams paid $24 million for their slice of Westmere but Barfoot & Thompson agents Carl and Rosanne Madsen have more modest ambitions for their listing when it goes to auction on October 17.
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“We’d like to see the price tip over into the $2m,” Madsen told OneRoof.
Records show the property last sold in 2019 for $1.4m and has a 2021 CV of $2.175m, of which $2.1m is for the land.
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The vendors, who live locally, had bought the property as an investment, but are now selling to put funds into building their dream home north of Auckland.
Madsen had noticed a renewed appetite for do-ups in Westmere and surrounding suburbs. “Costs have come back, and builders are out there looking for work as well, compared to the peak when they can pick and choose,” he said.
“This place will appeal to first, maybe second-time-around buyers wanting to get into the Westmere peninsula.”
His own analysis of the area found that such properties were selling for around 30% less than their CV.
The Madsens are also marketing another property with potential at 16 Sunny Brae Crescent. The four-bedroom house has been in the same family for 60 years and sits on an 842sqm site zoned for development.
The property has a CV of $3.025m but Madsen expects the property to hit around $2.5m at its auction this week.
26 Sunny Brae Crescent overlooks the estuary that flows into Waitemata Harbour. Photo / Supplied
Up for grabs for the first time in 60 years is nearby 16 Sunny Brae Crescent. Photo / Supplied
“My understanding is that it was the original farmhouse in the area, over on Westmere Crescent, and it was moved to Sunny Brae. It was a long skinny site, so the family built a summer house at the bottom [of the property]. Instead of going on holiday, they’d go down and stay in the summer house.”
The house has views east across Seddon Fields, by Meola Road, all the way to the Sky Tower. Paths at the bottom of the garden meet Westmere Reserve and Weona boardwalk.
Madsen said the property had already received interest from locals looking to build their dream home on the site.
He also has developers eyeing a tidy two-bedroom house on a 576sqm site at nearby 24 Tirotai Crescent. The property has a CV of $2.675m and Madsen said buyers may push the price to just over $2m at auction next week.
A deceased estate for sale at 24 Tirotai Crescent, in Westmere, is on a 576sqm site zoned for urban density. Photo / Supplied
Another waterfront bungalow for sale is 10 Macpherson Street, in Meadowbank. It comes with its own jetty. Photo / Supplied
On the other side of Auckland City is another waterfront bungalow up for grabs. 10 Macpherson Street, in Meadowbank, overlooks a little-known inlet off Orakei Basin and comes with its own jetty.
Harcourts agent Taryn Sumner said the overseas-based owners bought the house in 2022, wanting to get a foothold in the New Zealand market. They had plans to build a bigger home on the site but were now looking to sell.
While the property has a CV of $2.425m, the owners were realistic about prices in the current market.
“We obviously want the price to land in a place that is comfortable for our owners, considering what they paid [$2.25m]. But clearly that was at the peak of the market, so there’s common sense and everyone knows that,” Sumner told OneRoof.
She said the “cool home” had potential and had attracted plenty of interest at its first open home last weekend.
“Some buyers were families that would live in it and renovate over time. Some buyers just walked in and straight out, suggesting it was too much work for them,” she said, adding that one buyer was looking at subdivision potential on the sloping site.
She noted that buyers were now more active following the cuts in mortgage rates. “People don’t want to wait around too much and miss the bottom. We want a little bit of FOMO and urgency,” she said.
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