A large section in Auckland’s Mission Bay, with stunning harbour views, sold last month for $12.5 million.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Charles Benedict, who marketed the deceased estate on Selwyn Avenue, says the buyers don’t plan to live at the property – at least just yet.
“They are wealthy enough. They won’t bowl the house, but will decide in time. They will just hold the land meantime. These are very private people,” he says, adding that he is unable to reveal details of the vendor’s family.
The estate comprised two adjoining properties, one of which included on it a nearly 300sqm four-bedroom 1950s home that Benedict called “liveable, but dated”.
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His pitch was about the rare opportunity to pick up a large piece of flat land on a covetable street in the waterfront suburb.
Benedict billed the property as “one of the Bay’s last great landholdings”, pointing to its incredible sea views, north-facing aspect and the option for developers to divide the sections, zoned for suburban density, into smaller residences.
He said the view from a second storey would offer “near panoramic views” from the Coromandel to the Waitakere ranges.
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There were six offers for the property, three from families looking to build their own homes and three from developers, including one London-based buyer planning to retire back home in New Zealand and a buyer from Hong Kong.
Benedict said the sale price for the holding, which had a combined CV of $13.8m, compared well to another property in the Bays of a similar size which sold for $2.5m less. Neither sale has settled yet. The property, above Tamaki Drive, is surrounded by high-end neighbours, including a 2211sqm site with a CV of $13m.
Another sale, in Mount Roskill, shows that investors are back on the hunt in Auckland. Investors picked up a 6151sqm section on Richardson Road for $9.05m in June.
The Selwyn Avenue property overlooks Auckland harbour. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Jack Davies, who marketed the property with Brittany Broadbent, said that most of the interest in the property, just off the Maioro Street exit of the southwestern motorway, was from developers seeking the high-density apartment zoning and second street entrance. Six offers were received.
The property, in three titles, has a combined CV of $8.425m and currently has 14 four- and two-bedroom units and a large four-bedroom house returning $320,000 a year.
“These buyers will hold on and land-bank the property, keep all the tenants,” Davies said.
The vendors owned one of the properties for more than 30 years. OneRoof records show one of the sites, now with a CV of $4m, had sold for $340,000 in 1989, while another, now valued at $3.1m, sold for $570,000 25 years ago.
And more developers paid “close to asking” price for two properties on Hendon Avenue, Mount Albert, both zoned for apartment density, being disposed of by the Crown.
One of the sections, over 3000sqm of cleared land marketed by Ray White commercial agents Mark Atterbury and Jack Lewis, fetched close to $2.5m, while the other of 935sqm, also marketed by Lewis and Finn Hurst, was asking $1m.
This 6151sqm property on Richardson Road, in Mt Roskill, is spread over three titles. The buyer plans to hold onto the land and keep the homes as rentals. Photo / Supplied
The 935sqm site on Hendon Road, in Mt Albert, is zoned for development. Photo / Supplied
Hurst told OneRoof that both properties were “fairly encumbered sites” and came with 5m of easement rights for the future light rail line, which would restrict where buildings could go, meaning prices that were 20-40% down on similar properties without those encumbrances.
“It’s a pretty popular area, it’s regenerating. Both buyers would be looking at two to three-storey walk-up terrace homes, often with single parking at grade.
“These sorts of developers are often selling to the investor market and that market, through the likes of property investment coaching companies, is moving along quite well,” Hurst said.
“The last two months we’ve noticed a rebound in interest. Developers are confident the market has plateaued; we are near the bottom so they are looking to fill up the pipeline as they know not many houses have been started in the last 12 months. They have settlement terms of four to six months to line up consents, they want to pull the trigger [and start building] as soon as they’ve settled so they’ll be ready in nine to 15 months.”
Hurst said one developer is already selling homes off-the-plans to investors, who are keen to buy after a recent shortage of stock.
“There’s a bit of pressure on stock. It comes down to numbers, they get 5-10% discount to buy off-the-plans,” he said.
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