Priced out of the Kiwi standalone house, Auckland first home buyers are turning their attention to another Kiwi classic: the brick and tile unit.
Bayleys agent Dianne Burt, who sold a three-bedroom unit at 4/48 Rawhiti Road, One Tree Hill Auckland under the hammer last week for $1.155 million says that close to 70 people looked at the home, mostly first home buyers.
Twelve bidders registered for the auction, although only eight bid on the day, and six of them actively competed for the unit which had a 2017 council valuation of just $790,000.
“We’d been told the original builder in the 1960s had built this for himself, so it had three bedrooms and as an end unit there was a significant piece of land. It had a deck, new carpets and bathroom, just the original kitchen and they’d not done a lot to the garden.
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First home buyers are drawn to units with the feel of a standalone house, but with a much smaller price tag. Photo / Supplied
“People looking realised that this was as good as a little house, it’s 99 sqm and fenced. For the same house and land as a standalone house you'd be looking at $1.4 million or even $1.5 million.”
Burt says that buyers for these properties are mostly first home buyers, along with “a good handful” of downsizers looking for an Auckland base.
The eventual buyers were first home buyers who’d missed out on several other properties during their long hunt.
“But there were a few tears from disappointed underbidders, it was very sad for them. I’ve got people with budgets just around $1 million, but they keep getting pipped at the post.
“I wish I had a few more, it’s so sad.”
A smartly renovated flat in a block at 10A Wilkinson Avenue, Ellerslie, sold for $742,000 this week. Photo / Supplied
OneRoof records show the property last sold in 2000 for just $182,750. Units in this block on a popular street near Cornwall Park, close to shops and bus stops, are tightly held. The last unit to sell in the four-unit block was eight years ago. It went for $475,000, OneRoof records show.
Ray White agent Lisa Stone says that there is a good market for well-done one- and two-bedroom flats that attract both owner-occupiers or good quality tenants for investors.
She marketed a stylishly renovated 1970s property at 2/10A Wilkinson Avenue, Ellerslie that sold under the hammer last week for $742,000, $252,000 more than its 2017 CV of $490,000.
“It had been tenanted, but the owner moved in and did it up. We had 77 groups through and it was a mix of investors and owner occupiers. They were first home buyers and mature downsizers, the eventual buyer was an out of towner wanting an Auckland base.”
Auckland city fringe units such as this one in Cheshire Street, Parnell attract owners and investors. Photo / Supplied
Units in city fringe suburbs from Ellerslie to Parnell, and around Grey Lynn and Ponsonby are all sought after for their amenities and ease of access to the city.
“The apartment we have for sale on Cheshire Street, Parnell, is typical – others next door sold for $620,000 to $635,000, they’re a good fifty:fifty mix of owners and tenants.
“Another two-bed in Grey Lynn we’d expect to go for high $600,000 to early $700,000s and that will always do well because everything is on the doorstep.”
Stone says investors, particularly those with a good portfolio who don’t have to borrow from the bank have still got an appetite and are buying investment properties.
