A modest house that had been in the same family for over 40 years sold under the hammer this week – giving its owners a profit on paper of more than $1.2 million.
The three-bedroom home on Bagnall Avenue, in the Auckland suburb of Point England, had been bought by the owners’ family for $43,000 in 1982 and sold for $1.251m.
After a fierce 18-minute auction, when some 115 bids were exchanged, the 1950s house on a flat 842sqm section sold to an investor.
Ray White agent Bob Lemalu, who marketed the property as an urgent sale due to a sudden change in the owners’ circumstances, said his vendors were very happy.
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The property, which is zoned for terrace houses and apartments, went on the market at $965,000 before the five bidders drove it up another $286,000.
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“The family finally made the decision to sell, they’ve been 'umming and ahhing' for years. They had pressure from all quarters but will finally get overseas to see their kids.
“It was urgent because they wanted to be all sold and settled and out before Christmas.”
Ray White lead auctioneer Sam Steele said that the strength of bidding was a positive sign for development sites after the lull of 2022. “We were saying that we hadn’t had a development site with that sort of bidding since 2021.
“It’s certainly very pleasing sign that [the market] is moving forward.”
The 1950s house on Bagnall Avenue, Point England, was not healthy homes compliant but will be done up by the buyer. Photo / Supplied
Lemalu said the “good price” surprised them all, as the 1950s home was not healthy homes compliant. Ray White colleague Rubal Singh, who brought the buyer to the deal, said his client was “a buy and hold sort of guy”.
“He’s gonna fix it up and make it healthy homes compliant and rent it out. He has the cash flow to do that, he’s not looking at development.” Singh added that the buyer, who also bought a four-bedroom house on Friesian Drive, Mangere, at the same auction for $800,000, was timing his buys for the bottom of the market.
“People understand the market is not going to go down now, you might as well get a good deal. [They fix] interest rates for a year and then the rates will go down.
“But the mortgage brokers I talk to are saying there are a lot more people in arrears so we might see a few months of people having to sell,” Singh said.
The same buyer of Bagnall Avenue paid $800,000 for a four-bedroom house on 1239sqm on Friesian Drive, Mangere. Photo / Supplied
A four-bedroom home on Mahia Road, Manurewa, with plans for development sold for just under its CV of $780,000. Photo / Supplied
Singh added that the vendor of the Friesian Drive property was rationalising his portfolio and wanted to sell two or three of his five properties to appease his lender. The 1239sqm property with a four-bedroom house and cabin, had a CV of $1.25m and was zoned for urban density.
Another four bedroom property on a 571sqm site in Mahia Road, Manurewa, sold for $775,500, just shy of its $780,000 CV.
Ray White agent Akash Bindra, who marketed the property with building and resource consents for three four-bedroom homes, said the buyer was a first-home buyer who planned to live in the very tidy house and hold off development until further in the future.
“The owner of 10 years had plans for development but didn’t go ahead. He has developed other properties. I’m not sure what changed his mind, but it is in a flood zone so that might be the reason.” Bindra added that the five bidders were a mix of investors and home buyers, and that the price was comfortably above earlier expectations of $700,000 to $750,000.
Ray White Manukau co-owner Tom Rawson said that quality properties were attracting attention.
“This, along with re-set values and a good amount of recent sales data is giving both buyers and sellers the confidence they require to transact.”
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