Agents say families who are competing to get into prestigious suburbs on Auckland's North shore now consider price tags of $2 million-plus "affordable".
Popular school zones were particularly sought after, they told OneRoof.
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In auctions last week, an impeccably renovated villa in Devonport sold for $4.42 million while in the neighbouring suburb of Hauraki, considered a more "affordable" part of the North Shore, a property sold under the hammer for $2.076 million.
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The $4.42 million price tag for the five-bedroom Devonport villa at 126 Calliope Road was comfortably over its reserve price of $4.37 million and $1.12 million over its last sale price of $3.2 million in 2016.
The modernised villa, at one stage a Buddhist retreat, had a large 1200sq section and council valuation of $2.975 million.
Bayleys agent Victoria Bidwell, who was marketing the property, told OneRoof it sold for “a great price.
"It’s a particularly beautiful home even for Devonport and it was tastefully renovated with a corner site providing privacy,” she added.
“It was so popular as it ticked all the boxes for buyers. No compromises had to be made, plus all four bedrooms are on one level, which is hard to get."
The buyer was Devonport local who was competing with three other bidders, including an expat who was bidding sight unseen on Thursday.
Another family home Hauraki sold under the hammer for $2.076 million on Thursday.
A three-bedroom home at 13 Norman Road sold for $2.076m at auction. Photo / Supplied
Ray White agent Rachael Bridger who marketed 13 Norman Road, said: "Here it's still affordable....when it's $2 million or under level".
The three-bedroom property on 429 sqm was on the market for just four days before a local family put forward a pre-auction offer of $1.9 million. The home, which was built in the 1990s, had a CV of $1.45 million.
While there was competition between three active bidders the eventual buyers were the family who made the pre-offer, Bridger said.
Since the earlier offer fell through, the market has changed in their favour over the last half a year, Bridger said.
“There’s a huge number of families getting into the North Shore school zones at the moment. I probably have about ten waiting to get into Hauraki alone and about 50 families looking for a house in a North Shore,” she added.
OneRoof records show that the median property value in Devonport of $1.925 million is up whopping 18.6% since the first Covid lockdown in March 2020, while Hauraki jumped just 7.3% to $1.635 million.
The whole North Shore has a median value of $1.31million, up 13.1% since Covid.
