A Hamilton couple who were expecting to sell their home at a loss ended up walking away with an extra $20,000 after a surprisingly heated auction.
The couple bought the five-bedroom, two-bathroom on Amberley Place, in Flagstaff, for $1.18 million in 2022 at the peak of the market and had been willing to sell it for $1.16m – the price it was announced on the market for – when it went to auction last week.
But with four of the five registered bidders all fighting over the property, the sought-after brick and tile home actually sold for just over $1.2m.
Harcourts listing agent Yvenna Yue said the sale price had well and truly exceeded both their and their vendors’ expectations.
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There appeared to be a lot of demand for good quality family homes in Flagstaff and they were seeing a lot of competition for them, she said.
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A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Keston Crescent, in Flagstaff, was only on the market for a week when the owner accepted a pre-auction offer of $1.12m that was good enough to stop the auction, while another four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Claymore Place, in Flagstaff, also sold in a week after five offers were put forward.
Yue said there was a little bit of FOMO coming back as some of these buyers had already missed out on one or two properties before successfully purchasing.
“There’s been very much a resurgence and it’s been quite quick,” she said.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Keston Crescent, in Flagstaff, received a pre-auction offer enticing enough for the owners to can the auction. Photo / Supplied
“We’ve once again been surprised by sale prices. We are delivering results that are at the upper end or over the upper end of our appraisal prices.”
The sudden surge in demand in the last month had also impacted listing numbers.
“Listing numbers have dropped, which is quite interesting because I would have always anticipated now that listing season is here they would have increased.”
Last week Yue and colleague Craig Annandale sold 11 houses including one in Huntington that sold before the listing went on online.
Along with Flagstaff, they had also seen increased demand for properties in the new Peacocke subdivision in Hamilton south, which was proving popular with hospital workers.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Edgeview Crescent, in Peacocke, attracted three offers after just one weekend on the market and sold to empty-nesters for $995,000, which was the same price as its RV.
Lodge salesperson Blair Pointon agreed there was suddenly a lot more competition for properties and said it was coming from all parts of the market especially first-home buyers, but also investors and upgraders.
An investor snapped up a dual dwelling property on Clyde Street, in Hamilton East, for $799,000. Photo / Supplied
“I think it’s just that everyone has been sitting on their hands waiting for it to get cheaper and cheaper and now they’ve realised that’s not happening anymore and they’ve realised that competition is increasing so they are not mucking around and are making sure they are striking while the iron is hot.”
A three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Clyde Street, in Hamilton East sold for $799,000, which was $30,000 above asking price, after eight offers were made. The property had more than 50 groups through it and sold to an investor within a week of being listed.
It was a similar situation for a two-bedroom, one-bathroom home on Casey Avenue, in Fairfield, which saw 30 buyer groups through and also sold to a first-home buyer within a week for $694,500, which was $15,500 over asking price.
“Prices haven’t really increased, but buyer activity has increased hugely.”
A classic 1970s home on Clematis Avenue, in Pukete, was extremely popular with first-home buyers. Photo / Supplied
Lugtons salesperson Richard Hartles said there had been a drastic change in sentiment and activity since the last Official Cash Rate announcement in August, which saw it drop 25 basis points to 5.25% for the first time in more than four years.
“With rapidly decreasing interest rates, the urgency of current buyers in the market has gone from a two out of 10, to 7/8 out of 10. With test rates still high when applying for pre-approvals, there isn’t necessarily a bigger pool of buyers (yet), but in my opinion, the buyers that have been sitting in the market for the last three to four months are now moving with urgency as there will be a real fear we’ve seen the bottom and they won’t want to be left holding the bag (so to speak).”
Hartles said there had been an increase in demand across the board.
First-home buyers swooped on a 1970s three-bedroom, one-bathroom home on Clematis Avenue, in Pukete, and it sold in a bought-forward auction for $781,000 after multiple bids, but there was also a lot of interest in a higher-end four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Cumberland Drive, in Flagstaff, which sold at auction for $1.345m after heated bidding.
Even homes that had been listed earlier in the year were selling now, he said. A five-bedroom, three-bathroom home on Dawson Road, in Taupiri, failed to attract any offers when it hit the market in May this year. It was taken off the market for three weeks before being relisted as an auction campaign and sold under the hammer for $1.57m on Thursday.
Hartles said it was moving from a market that had been heavily slanted in the buyer’s favour to a more balanced market. “Hamilton homeowners should see a positive trend north in the value of the home, while buyers hurry to make the most of the quickly appreciating Hamilton house prices.”
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