Older homes on larger sections that developers were climbing over each other to win at the peak of the market are suddenly back in vogue in the auction rooms this week with an East Auckland do-up selling for $1.805 million after a bidding war.
The owners of a house on Priestley Drive in Bucklands Beach walked away with an extra $145,000 after six bidders battled it out for the Macleans College-zoned property at a Barfoot & Thompson auction on Tuesday.
The auction opened at $1.5m, was announced on the market at $1.66m, and finally sold for $1.805m after about 35 bids were placed. It had an RV of $1.925m.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom home was marketed as being “not only perfect for those looking for a new family home” but also “an excellent opportunity for land bankers, developers, and investors”.
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“The freehold 607sqm section provides plenty of space to create something truly unique,” Barfoot & Thompson agent Gary Ng said in the listing.
Barfoot & Thompson auctioneer Murray Smith said it was a “classic auction” with plenty of interest. “You’d run along with the bidding and when one dropped out another one would come in and take over the bidding.“
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Announcing it on the market at $1.66m just spurred people on, he said, because they knew it was selling that day.
“Human nature – wanting to know they are buying it before they bother bidding.”
While Smith was unsure who the new owners were, he said the property had the hallmarks of what developers were buying up large in 2020 and 2021. “Slightly older home and good parcel of land.”
A property on Advene Road, in Cockle Bay, sold under the hammer for $1.224m. Photo / Supplied
Barfoot & Thompson auctioneer Murray Smith says there has been increased demand for older homes on larger sites. Photo / Fiona Goodall
However, demand for those properties disappeared last year with agents telling OneRoof they had gone from being the most popular properties to the hardest to sell.
Of the four auctions Smith called during that session, two sold under the hammer and both were older homes on large sites.
A three-bedroom, one-bathroom brick home on Advene Road, in nearby Cockle Bay, marketed as having a good location and potential, also attracted four bidders. It was announced on the market at $1.8m and eventually sold for $1.224m.
Smith said the advantage of these properties was, unlike new-builds, you didn't have to factor in building costs.
“You look at these two which we are looking at, which are older and tired, but they are there, and they’ve been built, you don’t have to rebuild them, you are just bringing them up into the 21st century if you take them on and live in them really.”
A developer snapped up a house on a corner site on Detro Street at auction this week. Photo / Supplied
Meanwhile, at Ray White Manukau’s auction room bidders also competed for an older four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on a 675sqm corner site on Detro Street, in Papatoetoe, eventually selling under the hammer for $1.35m.
The property sold to a local and experienced developer after several bidders placed a total of 13 bids.
Ray White Manukau co-owner Tom Rawson said $2000 per sqm was a high price to pay now, but showed that good properties still got good results.
“In the boom market, every property was getting crazy results – now people are picking and choosing."
Not only were developers back in the auction room this week, he said, but first-home buyers and investors had also been bidding on various properties.
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