A grand five-bedroom home next to one of Auckland's most popular parks smashed auction records today, selling under the hammer for $9.9 million.
The property at 31 Maungakiekie Avenue, in Greenlane, was bought by a local family less than a week after it hit the market.
The beautifully renovated house, which sits on 1487sqm next to Cornwall Park and has a 2017 CV of $6.1 million, last sold in 2008 for $2.88 million, handing the vendors a profit of just over $7 million.
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The sale price is the highest achieved at a residential auction, surpassing the previous record-holder by $1 million and could signal a change in the way high-end properties are sold in Auckland.
Barfoot and Thompson's Linda Galbraith told OneRoof that she listed the property on Monday and had pre-auction offer of $8.5 million the next day.
There were eight registered bidders at the auction, and such was the competition that the family that had made the pre-auction offer ended up missing out.
"I’ve got people with budgets of up to $20 million looking to buy. There’s certainly money there,” she said, adding that she had received enquiries from ex-pats from Ireland, Seattle and Singapore.
Two people had even approached her immediately after the auction asking her to find a similar house for them. “Quality family homes are really hard to find,” she said.
She said the buyers had been looking for a "wonderful lifestyle and it’s an exceptional property”.
The house borders Cornwall Park and comes with a pool. Photo / Supplied
The sale price is striking considering that the house sits just outside the prized double grammar zone.
Barfoot and Thompson auctioneer Murray Smith, who called the auction on site, joked: "Can you believe it? I couldn't get bloody $10 million. For an auctioneer, that's a killer. I'll admit that towards the end I even did a bit of begging."
He said the auction "just went off like a machine gun. They were going up in $100,000 bids, until the last $300,000 in $50,000 jumps. Two bidders going for it, the others didn't get a look in."
Smith said that before the auction he and Galbraith had decided that an auction on a high-ticket property would work. "It's an absolutely beautiful property."
Smith also called the auction for the previous record-holder. That house, at 147A Arney Road, in Remuera, attracted 18 bidders and sold for more than $2 million above CV just after the country came out of lockdown.
The $9.9 million record follows a flurry of top sales at auction. Last week a renovated five-bedroom home at 6 Tirohanga Avenue, in Remuera, sold for $7.5 million – $2.5 million above the 2017 CV and a record price for the agency that called the auction.
147A Arney Road, in Remuera, Auckland, had held the auction record, selling last year for $8 million. Photo / Supplied
The listing agents, Ray White Remuera’s Simon Siddells and Thomas Farmer, told OneRoof the property had attracted more than 70 interested buyers “shopping with budgets of $6 million to $8 million".
“There were five registered bidders at the auction and three of them kept going after bidding passed $7 million,” Farmer said. “There’s an amazing appetite for homes in double grammar zone.”
Siddells added: “When you’ve got a beautiful property you know a lot of people will be really interested in, then an auction works.
“At that price level and higher, it’s an incredible market. People like to know that other people are prepared to pay these prices. After the auction we had a huge number of people tell us they liked to see that.
“We’ve been amazed at how many people have [budgets of] between $6 million and $12 million. Some have already sold, some were planning renovations but then wanted to buy something that is already done.”
6 Tirohanga Avenue, in Remuera, Auckland fetched $7.5 million at auction. Photo / Supplied
Ray White national auctioneer John Bowring, who called the auction, said the atmosphere in the room “was just electric”.
“It’s very exciting for an auctioneer when the numbers are higher - you do feel a bit more pressure,” he said.
“It just proves the sky’s the limit for these high-level properties. It’s certainly changed up from people just selling these homes for tender or price by negotiation.
“In a good market, when there are a lot of people with money, why not give it a run.”
Ray White New Zealand chief executive Carey Smith said the sale price was the highest the agency had achieved at auction and signalled a change of tactics at the top end of the market.
“We are seeing more and more high-end properties being submitted for sale by auction,” Smith said. “In the past, there was a tendency for closed-off market sales but the market is now so much broader and there is a renewed appreciation for openness in real estate transactions.”
He said that buyers liked the transparency auctions offered because it allowed them to “validate their competition and also the market response to the property”.
“The increasing movement towards auction has come about because of the significant depth of buyers in the market. It gives buyers and the agent fairness around the sale process and provides a certainty of market value."
Bayleys national auction manager Conor Patton told OneRoof bids of $6 million or more would soon become increasingly common in New Zealand auction rooms.
“We’re seeing a lot in that space, and we’ve noticed it gives agents and their vendors a lot of confidence. There’s no reason we can’t be auctioning at that price level.”
- Additional reporting Catherine Smith
