A “palatial” house in Auckland’s Greenhithe sold under the hammer last week for $5 million – more than $1m above its 2021 CV.
Barfoot & Thompson auctioneer Craig McNair described the home as a “dream house” and said around 50 or so people turned up to the onsite auction which saw strong action initially from three bidders, before there were only two.
Bidding opened at $3.7m, the same as the property’s CV, but swiftly moved upwards in $50,000 increments until negotiations took the property to the $5m sale.
McNair said the two bidders fought hard up to a point before the property was negotiated to an amount the vendors were happy with.
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Greenhithe has some beautiful homes and a great village vibe, he said, and that he thinks people see value there.
McNair said the house was “palatial – it was beautiful. It had a real heart, it was cozy, it was comfortable, it was modern, contemporary, it was functional – it was everything.”
While the auction was onsite, most auctions are held in rooms and McNair does not think the auction location makes a lot of difference when it comes to price.
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By the time people are ready to bid at auction they have generally already viewed the home several times and know they want it.
“If they want to buy a property, they will go to Timbuktu at midnight to buy it.
“At the end of the day it’s the owner’s choice and we offer both services.”
This house lent itself to an onsite auction as it had plenty of space and off-street parking.
The property was marketed by Barfoot & Thompson agents Sarah Benbow and Annie Yong-Mewburn as a “modern mansion” surrounded by tall hedges and set on a sprawling 1791sqm flat section with captivating street appeal.
It had five bedrooms, a study, three bathrooms, a renovated and upgraded kitchen and scullery with Studio Italia imported fittings, and a media room.
A four-bedroom home at 5E Olwyn Place, Greenhithe, North Shore, goes to auction on July 12. Photo / Supplied
Benbow told OneRoof the former owners spent around $250,000 on the media room which she said was so nice it was like going to the cinema in Matakana.
She said around 80 parties went through the open homes, which was a lot of people for the price bracket, adding there was big interest in the suburb to Auckland’s north-west and open home numbers had picked up.
“Greenhithe is becoming more and more sought after, there's so many people just wanting to come and live here.
“It’s to do with the community, the village, and also you don’t feel like you’re close to the city.”
A big drawcard is the large sections compared to the smaller ones of sought-after inner-city suburbs like Ponsonby, Grey Lynn and Remuera, and there are great schools.
She said the $5m paid was more in line with a Remuera price tag but she added this house was over 420sqm and had five-car garaging.
She said people tended not to move far in the area and while the buyers were from nearby Dairy Flat, the vendors were only moving down the road to the waterfront.
Benbow, who has lived in Greenhithe for 19 years, said while she had seen a lot of change it was nice to still have some land, and access to town or to the north was easy.
“You can get to the airport in half an hour – no traffic lights, there's not one traffic light.”
Benbow and Yong-Mewburn also have 5E Olwyn Place for sale by auction and while this is a single level brick home on a smaller 600sqm section, Benbow said there were already around 35 viewings in the first weekend of the campaign.
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