A replica villa sold for close to $4 million just three hours after the buyer viewed it.
The four-bedroom home at 26 John Street, in Ponsonby, Auckland, fetched $3.905 million at a Bayleys’ auction last Thursday – during the city’s level three lockdown.
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Listing agent Blair Haddow told OneRoof that the house had only been on the market for a week when it got a pre-auction offer of $3.65 million.
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Six bidders competed for the property, and drove the price up an extra $255,000 – well above and the property’s 2017 rating valuation of $2.2 million.
“The pre-auction offer was $3.65 million, but those buyers missed out,” Haddow said.
The luxury interior of 26 John Street. Photo / Supplied
“The eventual buyer had only seen the house that morning and three hours later he bought it. He’d been looking for a while in the area.”
The house, built just nine years ago on 414sqm of land at the Herne Bay end of John Street, last sold in 2018 for $2.6 million.
“That’s a near-50% increase in two years,” Haddow said.
Renovation job: 109 John Street sold for $2.175 million in October last year. Photo / Supplied
The sale shows the speed of the market in the area. John Street has racked up eight big sales in the last six months, all over $2 million.
At the end of October last year, a rundown three-bedroom bungalow at 109 John Street sold under the hammer for $2.175 million.
That sale was notable because the house was billed as a major renovation project, and showed that even worst house on the best street could command a top price.
A month before that, a renovated villa at 76 John Street sold for $3.6 million, closely followed by another at 53 John Street that sold for $3.42 million.
76 John Street sold for $3.6 million in September last year. Photo / Supplied
The corner property at 53 John Street sold for $3.42 million. Photo / Supplied
Martin Dobson, who was the listing agent for 109 John Street, said that demand in the area was heaviest for completely renovated properties.
“The challenge is not just the $1 million or $2 million or more you have to spend to get it liveable, it’s more about the timing, the distraction in your life.
“People like that they don’t have to do anything to [a renovated property]. They just continue with their life.”
