A large home that broke a Waikato town’s record when it was picked up by a developer for $1.42 million has resold for $1.01m but with less than one eighth of the land it originally came with.
There were four people fighting for the Stembridge Road property, in Ngatea, at the Bayleys auction room on Thursday with the price exceeding the expectations of both the owner’s and the agent after selling for at least $55,000 over the reserve.
Bayleys salesperson Dan Reed said the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home mainly attracted local buyers and some of the bidders even knew each other.
“A couple shook their hands as they walked in and said hello to each other and then it sort of dawned on them that they were going to be bidding against each other.”
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Reed said there were mixed emotions in the room because someone had won it and someone else had missed out. The new owners are local farmers who bought it for their retirement.
The developer bought the property in September 2022 and has since subdivided the land leaving the large 15-year-old home on a 3162sqm block. The remaining land has been chopped up into 10 sections ranging from 700sqm to 1000sqm in size which will form a new subdivision behind the property.
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The house, which is the largest home in Ngatea zoned residential, has been empty for more than two years because it was also vacant prior to the developer taking it over.
Reed said the house would have fetched an even higher price, but the foundations had moved slightly in places meaning it would require some levelling in the future.
“It’s completely liveable obviously because someone just paid $1m for it,” he said.
“It would have gone for a bit more if it was completely perfect, but that was built into the price.”
The Stembridge Road home has been empty for about two years. Photo / Supplied
Reed said lifestyle properties were always in demand, especially with city buyers as they look to escape the traffic and want their children to attend the popular Hauraki Plains College and Ngatea Primary School.
“I find every time you have a lifestyle property probably half your visitors through are from Auckland or Hamilton or other cities. We are seeing people coming back even from Tauranga now.”
While prices have gone up in the area, Reed said it was still far more affordable than other cities.
“You can cash up and come here and have no debt or money in the bank, so I think that’s quite attractive for people as well.”
Reed is a prime example of someone who has escaped the city moving from Auckland to Ngatea 18 months ago. His son is at the local school and said there were always new students starting there because of relocation.
The town is also growing and with several new subdivisions underway people can pick up a brand-new three to four-bedroom home on a decent-sized section for between $800,000 and $1m.
Of the seven properties called at Bayleys Hamilton auction room this week, the only two properties to sell under the hammer were in Ngatea.
The entry-level lifestyle property on State Highway 2 in Ngatea sold under the hammer for $527,500. Photo / Supplied
The property was in a "basic" condition and did not meet the Healthy Homes Standards. Photo / Supplied
An entry-level lifestyle property on State Highway 2, just a five-minute drive from Ngatea’s town, on a similarly sized 3596sqm section sold for $527,500.
The auction opened at $385,000 rising in mainly $10,000 increments with two people competing for it. Bidding paused at $500,000 before being announced on the market and selling for $527,500.
The basic three-bedroom, one-bathroom weatherboard home was marketed as ideal for someone looking to get a foot on the property ladder and add value.
Bayleys listing agent Karl Davis said the property had been part of a much larger farm and was surplus to the farmer’s requirements.
Instead of spending money on the home to bring it up to Healthy Homes Standards so he could rent it out, the farmer decided to sell it.
“It’s quite a common theme I suppose for farmers. Rather than spend a couple of hundred grand to do it up sometimes it’s easier for them to sell and almost buy a brand-new one. But it’s a great way for someone to get started in that lifestyle market.”
Both buyers lived in neighbouring towns and the property had attracted people wanting to move out of town to a lifestyle block, he said.
Davis said the lifestyle market continued to be strong since Covid times. “Even though the market in general has softened all over New Zealand – probably your beach places and lifestyle blocks have held their value better than some of the other commodities.”
Ngatea has evolved in the past decade from being a rural service town for the surrounding dairy farming community to an educational hub driven by the impressive reputation Hauraki Plains College has built for itself under the strong leadership of the former principal Ngaire Harris.
The town itself has a population of about 1600 and the local college and primary school combined have a roll of just under 1200 students. It’s also got Thames Valley’s only hockey turf, a large cricket pitch and a rugby club.
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