Is Onehunga finally living up to its promise as the new Ponsonby?
The sale of a three-bedroom renovated villa last week suggests buyers are willing to pay big money for a home in the former working class Auckland suburb.
The character home on Arthur Street sold under the hammer at a Bayleys auction on Wednesday for $2.395 million – more than $100,000 above the reserve.
It is the highest residential sale price in Onehunga so far this year, and follows a flurry of big deals that have firmly put the suburb on the radar of trendy buyers priced out of the likes of Grey Lynn and Ponsonby.
Start your property search
Read more:
- Packed to the Rafters star Rebecca Gibney reluctantly selling her Dunedin home
- Tony Alexander: Survive to '25 - why we're all holding on till interest rates drop
- $1 reserve auction: $420,000 win for worst house agent had ever seen
The auction of the Arthur Street home, marketed by Bayleys agents Lindy Lawton and Jack Jeffries, had been brought forward a week after the vendors received two strong offers from eager buyers.
Both buyers competed against each other in a tense two-minute-long auction that saw 23 bids take the price of the home from $2.275m to $2.395m – $145,000 above the property’s 2021 CV.
The winning bid was from a couple who had made the highest pre-auction offer, while the under-bidders were Onehunga locals.
The Arthur Street home had undergone a top-notch makeover. Photo / Supplied
The vendors, who had spent $700,000 on an architecturally-designed upgrade of the home, told OneRoof that the two pre-auction offers were $200,000 apart. “We were mildly surprised and happy at the price we achieved,” they said.
Lawton said the buyers had been looking for a home that could accommodate three generations of their family. “The buyers are looking to create some extra space and the house was an opportunity for that. They have two children and are having their parents move in.”
The home had been renovated to a very high standard. The vendors had used architect Alex Van Klink to design the renovation and employed building company Maybeck Residential, which had already completed several renovations in the immediate neighbourhood.
Buyers looking for other high-end options in Onehunga have the chance to pick up another record-breaking house, 8 Normans Hill Road, which sold for $2.6m in January 2022 and is back on the market with an asking price of $2.4m.
This luxurious and spacious home at 8 Normans Hill, in Onehunga, has a $2.4m price tag. Photo / Supplied
The home, according to Harcourts listing agent Ross Dowie, is a rarity in the Auckland market, due to its size and number of bedrooms.
“It was around 160sqm when it was built, but it had a massive rebuild in 2008-2009,” said Dowie.
“People are not coming to Onehunga, they are coming to a 350sqm, six-bedroom home. Six bedrooms is a needs-driven situation for an extended or blended family.
“I have had buyers from far and wide. Local [Onehunga] people have been mysteriously absent.”
Dowie said the current owners bought the home a couple of years ago, but their circumstances have changed. “No one comes onto the market in this market unless they have genuine reasons,” he said.
“We had it under offer, but the buyer couldn’t get their finance together. It has just come out from being under offer.”
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Onehunga
