A lucky buyer scored a bargain on one of Auckland’s smarter suburbs at the Barfoot & Thompson auctions this week, paying nearly $1 million below CV for a two-bedroom bungalow in Meadowbank.
The run-down deceased estate on Meadowbank Road sold under the hammer for $1.3m – $975,000 less than its current CV.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Kelly Midwood, who marketed the Meadowbank Road property on behalf of the estate’s trustees, billed the 1930s house with modern additions as “your ‘bought well’ moment” suggesting the property could be renovated or restored, or the house could be removed and replaced.
While the 835sqm site was zoned for suburban density, Midwood said only 500sqm of the site was usable for building as the rest was on a steep slope.
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Midwood said the initial price feedback from buyers looking at the bungalow had been around $1m, despite hopes from the seller’s trustees for $1.5m to $1.6m. Extending the campaign another two weeks and quoting a likely price of $1m brought five bidders to the auction. Midwood said after due diligence most first-home buyers steered clear of such a big renovation project, but she believes the buyer was a young buyer with his parents.
The sloping site of the bungalow on Meadowbank Road was not appealing to developers, so the house was bought by a young buyer. Photo / Supplied
She said there was a spring pick-up this week, with a surge of offers on multiple other properties coming in this week, and an increase in would-be vendors looking for appraisals in the $1.5m to $2.5m price bracket. Many sales were conditional on buyers selling their own home, she added.
“That’s the market that wants to move, but it’s the first-home buyers who need to start it off,” Midwood said.
“Some of them are still a bit handicapped on their applications by the banks and some who’ve had pre-approvals but then needed to go back for re-approvals aren’t getting [finance] at the same level.”
In a suburb considered a stepping stone into blue-chip Remuera or the eastern bays, the average value is $1.85m according to this month’s house price report, up slightly in the past 12 months.
Land for new builds is sought after. In March this year buyers paid $2.25m – $200,000 under CV – for a 965sqm site around the corner, on the water, where the old three-bedroom house will be bowled for a new build.
At another auction for an attractive two-bedroom brick and tile unit on Middleton Road, Remuera, another young buyer also did well, paying $920,000 under the hammer. OneRoof records show the vendor had paid $898,000 for the unit, in March 2020. It has a CV of $1.26m.
Three bidders and 240 bids later a two-bedroom unit in triple Grammar zone on Kingsview Road, Mt Eden, sold for $1,077,500. Photo / Supplied
Barfoot & Thompson agent Lillian Bai, who marketed the property, said 45 groups had looked at the property, with many young buyers now drawn to these types of units close to the shops and transport, replacing the traditional older retirees.
She added that there has been an upsurge in activity at open homes in the past couple of weeks, but buyers were still hesitant to take action.
Fierce competition from three bidders saw a refurbished 1970s brick and tile two-bedroom unit on Kingsview Road, Mount Eden, sell for $1.0775m. It took 22 minutes and some 140 bids after it went on the market at $982,500, before the property sold at $37,500 above CV – a total of over 240 bids in a little over 30 minutes.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Ketiesha Elliott, who marketed the property with Frank Excell, said that the triple Grammar-zoned property had brought out three investors, two from other agents in the group, who fought it out in bids of $500.
“It was crazy,” Elliott said.
“I’ve been doing this since 1995 and it was the longest bidding session I’ve ever had. That was a good price.”
She said that while a few first-home buyers looked at the property, it was investors who spotted the potential.
Vendors of 22 Horoeka Street in Mount Eden have changed their price expectations after failing to get bids eight weeks ago. Photo / Supplied
“They’re trickling back,” she said, adding that vendors are adjusted to the new prices.
In fact, she is now re-marketing a property in double Grammar zone that had no bids eight weeks ago. While she expects the immaculately refurbished four-bedroom villa on 22 Horoeka Street, Mount Eden, to still sell for more than its $3.55m CV, she is telling buyers to ignore all previous price indicators.
“My UK-based vendors have changed motivation and dramatically changed their price expectation,” she told OneRoof.
Eight bidders vied for a three-bedroom house on Abercrombie Road, Howick, zoned for urban density before it sold for $2.01m to a developer. Photo / Supplied
In south east Auckland, Harcourts agent Tina Gao reported eight bidders vied for a three-bedroom brick and tile home on a 825sqm site with zoning for urban development on Abercrombie Street, Howick. The property, which had a CV of $1.6m, sold for $2.01m to a developer.
She said the 30 groups went through the property were a mix of developers and family buyers, but the competitive bidding was mainly by developers drawn to the potential of the site in the “golden area” of Howick, with flat land and services in place.
