A 1960s architecturally designed home in the heart of Auckland's Devonport has sold under the hammer for $2.65 million - $1.52m less than its 2021 CV.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Flagstaff Terrace sold at a Bayleys auction last week after two bidders battled it out for a foothold in the tightly-held enclave.
The 1960s timber and brick home was designed by renowned modernist architect Albert N Goldwater and is only metres from the beach.
Bidding started at $1.7m, then paused at $2.05m, before kicking off again in earnest.
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Bayleys listing agent Lynda Betts said there was a lot of interest in the property, with more than 50 groups viewing it during the marketing campaign.
“It’s right in the heart of the village and you literally step out your front door and you are in the village. Very few properties come up for sale in the centre of Devonport; they are very tightly held.”
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The majority of homes in central Devonport were built pre-1940s and are heritage protected. However, the Flagstaff Terrace home, because it was built in the 1960s, does not have that protection.
Betts said the new owners, who live outside of Auckland, were still deciding whether to demolish or renovate the property.
She said the property sold below its CV of $4.17m due to the amount of work required and the new owners were aware of this. “It’s a very fair price for it and both the buyers and the sellers were very happy,” Betts said.
Betts said that while some sellers were still holding onto last year’s prices, most were ready to meet the market and move on. However, some homes were still selling above CV.
The Flagstaff Terrace property sits on a 569sqm site close to the waterfront and has a 2021 CV of $4.17m. Photo / Supplied
The exterior colour scheme is continued inside the house. Photo / Supplied
She recently sold a waterfront apartment within the iconic Masonic Hotel, across the road from the beach, for $4.9m. The sale price, achieved at auction and with six bidders, exceeded the home’s CV of $3.11m.
“Devonport is always sought after. It always will be and when you get properties like those two there will always be huge interest in them,” Betts said.
Harcourts Devonport agent Ian Cunliffe agreed there were still buyers around, but they were slower to react and had a lot more properties to choose from.
“We’ve got a lot of lovely properties and some of them hang around the market, but we are also seeing a sizeable minority of properties selling really well," he said.
“I personally think that’s because our clientele are generally high net worth people who have got a lot of cash to put down or they get finance easily and when there’s a bit of competition for a nice home, they will pay a reasonable price for it.”
An art deco unit on Calliope Road, in Devonport, received four offers and ended up selling for $1.2045m. Photo / Supplied
A four-bedroom character home at 7 Huia Street, in Devonport, goes to auction on March 23. Photo / Supplied
Just last week a two-bedroom art deco unit on a cross-lease section on Calliope Road sold above its CV for $1.2045m, with four offers made on the property. OneRoof property records show it last changed hands in 2014 for $659,000.
“If it’s a good property and people see value in buying short or medium term then rule of thumb it will sell.”
Both Devonport’s village feel and close proximity to the CBD via the ferry have always been big drawcards, but Cunliffe has recently noticed buyers from Mt Eden and central Auckland looking and feels this could be due to people concerned about large developments being built next to them whereas it was less likely to happen in Devonport if it remained a special character area.
A lot of the homes in Devonport are older villas and bungalows.
Cunliffe is currently selling a four-bedroom, two-bathroom character home one street away from the waterfront at 7 Huia Street by auction later this month, a 1930s bungalow at 2 Takarunga Road priced by negotiation, and a grand villa at 3/92 Victoria Road by deadline treaty.
“They are examples of three lovely traditional style Devonport homes that are on the market right now,” he said.
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