A stylish four-bedroom villa in Auckland's Onehunga has sold to an expat Kiwi family for $1.9 million - more than half a million dollars above CV.

Over 40 people registered for the online auction for 61 Cardwell Street on Saturday, 12 of whom fought it out to secure the property as their own.

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Ray White Manukau director Tom Rawson, who was helping out with the listing, said judging by their approach, the winning bidder had had some auction training.

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"The buyer went hard from the beginning and was dominant compared to the other people [bidding]. If you are bidding against people with pockets as big as yours, you want them to know that you're stronger and that you're crazy about the property."

Ray White agent Jared Hards, who was marketing the property, said more than 500 people had viewed it at the open homes before Auckland went into lockdown.

It's clear why the villa was so popular. It sits on 847sqm freehold section on one of Onehunga's most picturesque streets.

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The Cardwell Street property was well presented. Photo / Supplied

Hards said the buyer was a Kiwi who was returning to New Zealand from London with their family, adding that expats who had grown up in Onehunga were targeting properties in the suburb.

According to OneRoof records, 61 Cardwell Street last changed hands in 2011 for $670,000, handing the vendors a profit, on paper at least, of $1.23 million.

The sale of 61 Cardwell Street follows intense bidding by two Kiwi expats in Singapore for a three-bedroom home at 99 Clarence Street, in Ponsonby. The stylish Auckland bungalow sold under the virtual hammer for $2.311 million - almost $400,000 above its 2017 CV.

And at the start of the month, a three-bedroom home at 15 Cardwell Street, sold under the hammer at the start of the month for $1.75 million - half a million dollars above its CV.

That property had 41 registered bidders - 39 of whom came in person to bid.

Ray White auctioneer John Bowring said buyers hadn't been thrown by the shift to online auctions. "It's working exceptionally well and people are responding beautifully to online auctions and it's going great."