Too-good-to-be-true prices for land in dream locations, local (and one global) celebrities’ homes, leaky buildings at bargain prices – and the odd genuine gem. But all in Auckland.
These are the top ten property listings that were most viewed on OneRoof.co.nz in the year to the end of October.
No.1 | 114A Waiheke Road, Onetangi, Waiheke Island
Top of the popularity polls was the 1381sqm block of bushland on Waiheke Island. The property on Waiheke Road, 10 minutes from Onetangi beach, was listed with an asking price of just $580,000.
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But Waiheke Homes real estate agent Andrew Lanyon, who has been marketing the property since April, hasn't yet found the buyer who wants to build so close to Onetangi Beach.
“The renders show an option for what people could build on the block," he said
Tobias Roebuck-Ward, of Waiheke Homes, added:" With the most recent sale on this street being $3.25m, the opportunity here sounds fabulous."
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No. 2 | 1A/16 Gore Street, Auckland Central
Listed in April, and still on the market asking $129,000, the 47sqm inner city apartment was billed as having potential to add a second floor to the double height one-bedroom space.
It is in the attractive Harbour City block, which has a pool and a gym, says listing agent Jesse Smith of Apartment Specialists.
However, the apartment block has remedial issues with complicated legal claims which a new owner would inherit, Smith said, adding that similar quality apartments without issues would be selling for around $600,000 to $700,000.
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No. 3 | 12 Te Rangitawhiri Road, Great Barrier Island / Aotea Island
Listed in late January, the over 4ha bush block on Te Rangitawhiri Road in Aotea/Great Barrier ticked the island boxes – secluded native bush site that reached Tryphena Harbour’s water edge, only 3km from the local Stonewall shopping centre, with a price tag of $550,000 (and a CV of $530,000).
Mike Jensen, of Barfoot & Thompson, who marketed the property, said that the photo of the view drew interest, although buyers soon recognised the difficulty of building on the steep site.
It sold in a month for $520,000.
“That’s entry level for land, but people don’t understand that here on the island you’re looking at building costs of $13,000 per square metre, and that’s not counting architects, engineers, getting services to the site.” That’s more than four times the average cost for a standard house build in Auckland mainland.
Jensen said that CVs are irrelevant on the island, “they just make my life difficult. I’ve got a place at the moment with a CV of $550,000 but it will go for more like $1.5m.”
“We get mostly off-islanders, not so much from Auckland, but second-home buyers from places like Wanaka. It’s quicker to fly to Auckland and then jump on the plane to Barrier,” he said.
In the lead up to summer, Jensen currently has seven listings on Aotea, including the famous Tipi & Bob’s lodge, which has been on the market since December and is now asking $3.1m.
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No. 4 | 269 Big Bay Road, Awhitu, Franklin
Barfoot & Thompson agent Antony Greenfield, who listed the 5935sqm lifestyle block near the Big Bay boat ramp in January, said the high number of viewers were drawn to the $1.1m CV although, until recently, the vendors had hoped for more.
“In September houses in the Waiuku market were getting 17% above CV, but this is a lifestyle property,” Greenfield said.
“The reality is you would have to roll up your sleeves and do some work, and Aucklanders are a bit phobic. It’s a specialist, niche property to live that lifestyle dream,” he said, adding that commute times of two hours into Auckland and 45 minutes to Pukekohe put off buyers who had thoughts of splitting their time between home and town.
The energy-efficient three-bedroom house, comes with a sleepout, established fruit and vegetable beds, out-buildings and even pens for chickens and pigs.
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No. 5 | 10 Tullis Place, Burswood, Manukau
The popularity of the five-bedroom brick and tile home with $1.575m CV on Tullis Place, Burswood, in Manukau, had Ray White agent Tony Chan, who marketed the property with Anton Huang, stumped.
The property was listed for six months between March and August this year, but launched a new listing from the pair in September, stating “vendors have bought, must sell!”
The property sold this week at auction for $1.44m, slightly below its CV, with three bidders competing, Chan said.
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No. 6 | 23A Woodfern Crescent, Titirangi
While the marketing words are sassy, they are also blunt about the issues for the four-bedroom house for sale on a sunny 693sqm site on Woodfern Crescent, Titirangi. The advertisement points out remedial action needed on the deck and higher-than-normal moisture readings on the 1990s house.
Records show the keen vendor has dropped the price from the initial asking of $1.198m when the house was first listed in June, to $950,000, well below its CV Of $1.35m. The Team Glovers agents say the vendor has done some work on drains and overgrowth to help the moisture readings.
They add: “The big question is, has this remedied the moisture readings or is more work needed to be done?”, and suggest that there is an upside for the property in “arguably one of the best streets in Titirangi”.
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No. 7 | 25-29 Clark Road, Hobsonville
A story headlining its owner – King Charles III – as selling his Auckland mansion drew viewers to the listing in October.
The heritage-listed brick mansion on Clark Road, Hobsonville, is actually a Crown asset being disposed of by its most recent occupier, the Department of Defence.
Known as Clark House, the Italianate-style Victorian property was used for Royal New Zealand Airforce operations from 1950 until they moved out in 2016, and has sat boarded up since then on its 1.94ha site, now surrounded by suburbs.
Harcourts agent Graham Lewis is marketing the property, which has a CV of $16.58m, with Sue Noonan for tender closing November 21.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a special buyer to purchase a slice of New Zealand’s history from the current owner, His Majesty the King,” Lewis said.
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No. 8 | 10 Northland Street, Grey Lynn
When former New Zealand Idol judge Jackie Clarke and her husband, film director Grant Lahood, listed their multi-million-dollar Auckland villa in March, the short sharp three-week auction campaign and media stories drew attention.
The couple bought the Northland Street, Grey Lynn, house almost 25 years ago for $356,000, and renovated it. It sold under the hammer for $2.9m.
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No. 9 | 26 Gardner Avenue, New Lynn
The June to September nail-biting campaign to sell ZM host Clint Roberts and his wife Lucy Slight’s renovated 1940s deco house on Gardner Street, New Lynn, made it OneRoof’s ninth most viewed property this year after featuring in both mainstream media and Roberts’ social media.
When the three-bedroom, one-bathroom home passed in at auction at the end of July, their agent Kane Taylor, of Ray White, had another deal lined up, which unfortunately fell over when those buyers couldn’t sell their home.
The property went back on the market with an asking price of $1.195m in mid-August, later dropping to $1.149m. The family moved to their new home, a 1970s house in Titirangi, while Taylor continued to show the empty house to buyers until the spring market uptick helped bring in buyers. The home sold for $1.1305m at the end of September.
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No. 10 | 308A Glengarry Road, Glen Eden
Nine months on the market brought the four-bedroom new-build house on Glengarry Road, Glen Eden, the tenth highest number of views.
However, Barfoot & Thompson agent Frank Liang said that the 377sqm house on a 450sqm site had actually sold off-the-plan in February, before construction began, but the listing was kept up until the house was ready for the buyer to settle.
Liang said the house sold for $1.25m, a “super good” price for the area.
“Last year it would be $1.35m. And similar-sized houses, 30 years old, were selling for $1.1m to $1.28m.
“But the [builders] are business people, they don’t want to hang in waiting to get the best offer, they just want to move on to the next project.”
