A stylish apartment with one of the best views of Auckland was picked up at auction for $3 million, mere days after it first hit the market.
And the buyer could almost be using a wheelbarrow to shift his belongings into his new home, as he currently lives just a few doors down the road.
The ground-floor unit on Queens Parade, in Devonport, looks out over the harbour to the city’s CBD and has a 2021 CV of $2.35 million.
It was listed just before midnight on March 1, and received a pre-auction offer of $3m three days later, before selling onsite on March 8.
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Ray White agent Kim Pausina, who marketed the property with colleague Eden Thomson, said the buyer had just sold his family home and was looking for something smaller in the neighbourhood.
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“It was just a case of perfect timing. He needed something smaller. Being one level, [the apartment] just suited him to a T. He just felt like this was the perfect fit,” she said.
“He lived a few doors down, so obviously he wasn’t compromising on his lifestyle or what he’d been used to.”
Pausina said the sale was the fastest she and Thomson had ever completed.
The Queens Parade apartment boasts clear views of Auckland CBD. Photo / Supplied
“We went live on the Friday just before midnight, and then we got a pre-auction offer on the Monday. The auction was brought forward to 3pm the following Friday and our gentleman with the pre-auction offer was successful.”
Devonport’s housing market has livened up in recent weeks, with new listings tracking upwards and sales activity similarly encouraging.
Harcourts agent Ian Cunliffe told OneRoof that sales in the suburb were “steady rather than bullish”.
“It’s not roaring ahead, but it’s certainly not in the doldrums either. Buyers have a good choice of stock,” he said. “There are locals trading up and trading down, and people coming in from other parts of the city.”
Some were attracted by Devonport’s special character. “They are reasonably confident that if they buy an authentic villa, they won’t get a block of flats going next door.”
Villas in Devonport’s heritage streets are still fetching top prices, with one on Ewen Alison Avenue selling last month for $3.4m, just above its CV. At the other end of the scale, a character home on Kiwi Road sold for $1.75m in December 2023. The CV was $1.925m and it was listed as a do-up opportunity.
Going to auction on March 21 is this three-bedroom villa at 3 Lake Road, in Devonport. Photo / Supplied
Pitched as a demolition opportunity is 2/34 Seabreeze Road. Photo / Supplied
Cunliffe himself is taking a classic three-bedroom villa at 3 Lake Road to auction on March 21. The property, which has a CV of just over $2m, is being touted as the “quintessential Devonport home”.
Barfoot & Thompson agents Tracey Lawrence and Trish Fitzgerald told OneRoof there was a shortage of stock at the lower and middle segments of the market. “There are way more buyers than we have properties to show them,” they said.
Harcourts agents Jane Hastings and Jackie Mark probably have the most unusual listing in the suburb: 2/34 Seabreeze Road, which they are marketing to sell at auction on March 28 as a demolition opportunity.
The agents’ listing, which boldly states is a just chance to buy a section and get a complimentary house, calls on “all builders and developers” to “seize this unique project”.
The vendor was realistic about price, said Hastings, highlighting the property’s clear drawbacks. “We actually don’t know if it is leaky. No one’s done a building inspection, but it just looks like it is. As soon as you advertise a property [like this] people assume it’s leaky anyway.”
The vendor was not prepared to offer warranties, she said, “so by putting ‘complimentary house’, there’s no vendor warranty”.
“The location is the biggest selling point for that property, across the road from the Waitemata Golf Course, and turn left out the front gate, and within five minutes, you’re at beautiful Narrow Neck Beach for swimming,” said Hastings. “The boating club is there as well. Or turn right, and you’re at the duck pond, and a short walk, really, into Devonport Village.”
Hastings said there had been wide interest in the property, but the buyer would need to come with cash. “We are only dealing with those people that have funding available to them personally.”
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