- A landmark villa in Te Awamutu has sold for just over $2 million.
- The house and adjacent section were snapped up by Auckland buyers.
- The sale price is the town’s highest this year.
A landmark villa with an iconic turret has broken Te Awamutu’s sale price record this year.
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The five-bedroom home on College Street and the 110sqm section next door were snapped up by a young Auckland family for just over $2 million.
The house, which sits on a 3081sqm section and has its own tennis court, was listed with an asking price of $1.85m, while the neighbouring plot of land had a price tag of $400,000.
Bayleys listing agent Sarah Adams said the new owners were moving down from Auckland and had swooped up both properties, shelling out $1.6m for the house and $405,000 for the section.
The price of the villa alone beats Te Awamutu’s previous residential record-holder this year – a property on Cambridge Road, which sold for $1.55m in November 2024.
The outgoing owners worked hard to restore the 1893 villa. Photo / Supplied
The sale marks the fifth time the property has changed hands over 130 years. Photo / Supplied
Adams said College Street property stood out because large, well-maintained character homes rarely came to market.
She said the listing had attracted interest from various buyers, including people looking to relocate from the South Island, expats and local buyers. For many people, it was also the first time they had ever had the chance to look inside a well-known home in the town.
“The nature of a historic home with so many lovely original features was always going to require a particular buyer who appreciated the style and grace of a heritage property and finding that person was a process of spreading the net as wide as possible to ensure we had reached everyone who might consider it – even if they didn’t know it themselves yet!”
The property, originally called Heworth, has had only four owners in its 130-year history. It was originally built for a local family before having a brief five-year stint as a maternity ward. It changed hands again in 1925 when the Burchells, a prominent Te Awamutu family, bought it as their home. The current owners John and Francie purchased it off them in 1981.
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John and Francie told OneRoof earlier this year that when they bought the property it was in a state of relative disrepair. They began an extensive refurbishment project of refreshing and reinvigorating the historic villa room by room before taking on the mammoth task of clearing the large garden.
Adams believed having so few owners had helped in the preservation of the home. “It has retained so many of its original features because of its unique consistency of care, with so few owners.”
However, the new owners weren’t the only ones relocating to satellite towns such as Te Awamutu and she has noticed an increase in Aucklanders ditching the big smoke for a more relaxed pace of life, less traffic, and more quality time with their family. The fact that they could also get so much more bang for their buck was also a big drawcard, she said.
“The commute to Hamilton is palatable and the great schooling and community on offer in Te Awamutu makes it a mecca for young families.”
First-home buyers snapped up a three-bedroom home on Kihikihi Road, in Te Awamutu, for $690,000. Photo / Supplied
Tall Poppy salesperson Shaun Smith was also seeing an increase in people moving to Te Awamutu and Kihikihi because of the affordability and lifestyle it offered.
However, he believed most of them were moving from Hamilton or Cambridge as prices in those areas got out of their reach.
“People are seeing Te Awamutu as a serious alternative,” he said.
“A lot of people are living in Te Awamutu because they don’t want to live in Hamilton.”
Smith said first-home buyers were seeing it as a good option because they could pick up a three-bedroom on a decent-sized section for $550,000 to $700,000.
“They would prefer to live in Te Awamutu or Kihikihi than a not-so-good suburb in Hamilton.”
He recently sold a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home on a 1000sqm section on Kihikihi Road for $690,000 to first-home buyers.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Te Awamutu
