Waiheke Island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf often features immaculate luxury homes with jaw-dropping sale prices and magnificent sea views, but New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty principal Chris Jones says you don’t have to be a CEO or a surgeon to break into the island.
Sales in the $1.2 million to $1.3m range have been regular this year and that price range is considered entry-level.
One such sale, to a young couple earlier this month, went for $1.275m after just six days on the market.
The couple, who were renting on the island, made a pre-auction offer for the property on Kennedy Point Road, which was significantly lower than the $1.6m CV.
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Jones told OneRoof they were super-excited to pick up the 1970s two-bedroom bach, marketed as having “breathtaking views and endless possibilities”.
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The listing copy described the property as a nostalgic throwback to the 1970s “where your creative touch can transform this home into a modern coastal retreat that capitalises on its prime position and spectacular vistas”.
Jones said the house was near the new marina and the passenger ferry terminal, plus the local school.
“We took people through pre-market from a database and then launched it. One weekend of open homes and then a pre-auction offer acceptable to the vendor and it sold.
“This was a property that was an opportunity for somebody to take it on now and potentially renovate later.”
The property had been a much-treasured family bach since it was built and this was the first time on the market.
The bach boasts impressive views. Photo / Supplied
The listing described the property as a nostalgic throwback to the 1970s. Photo / Supplied
“It was a good campaign and a nice part of the market and we were able to activate buyers early in the campaign and get it sold.
“A very, very happy couple with young kids have bought it.”
The sale showed the power of a strong campaign, and also showed there was a strong market in the price range, Jones said.
For the quarter to the end of June, the median sale price on the island was $1.385m, reflecting sales in the $1m to $1.5m range.
NZ Sotheby’s had sold several properties in that range, along with multi-million-dollar properties.
Jones said sometimes cheaper properties were bought then were demolished to make way for an expensive new build so it was nice to sell to a young couple who planned to love the house rather than knock it down.
“The young couple that have bought it are just so excited and that’s what it’s all about, right?”
Surfdale is on the south side of the island and while a cheaper suburb. Kennedy Point was a great location, he said.
Another entry-level home on the island, on Pacific Parade, in Surfdale, sold at the start of the year for just over $1m. Photo / Supplied
Other recent sales by NZ Sotheby’s in the price range included a two-bedroom bach in Oneroa, which sold in March for $1.151m. Another property, on Ridge Road, in the same suburb, was currently under offer for just over $1m, while a property on Pacific Parade, in Surfdale, sold in February for $1.08m.
“My message to any buyer at the moment is simple – if you don’t buy now you are going to be chasing the market back up again in the next year to two,” Jones said.
There were already plenty of properties on the market and Jones was expecting more to come on the market in what he anticipated would be a busy spring and summer.
The dollar values of sales was significantly up this year already, he said, with around $220m worth of sales made in the first half of the year, compared to a little under $100m for the same time last year.
“There’s a lot more going on. We had a very, very active February, March, April into May and then, like a lot of the market around the country, and particularly Auckland, it started to slow down again, but we always have that winter on Waiheke.”
While Jones’s agency often sold in the mid and high-end range, the agent advised buyers not to be fooled into thinking the island had turned into a playground only for the wealthy.
“There are obviously some beautiful, high-end properties on Waiheke, and there’s some beautiful mid-to-high-end but there’s also some beautiful really, really good opportunities in the entry-level area.”
In a changing market the entry-level range often freed up quickly as people looked to upsize, so there was a bit of internal movement on the island taking place, he said.
- Click here to find more properties for sale on Waiheke Island
