After a quiet winter, Auckland’s holiday playground of the rich and famous is coming back to life.
Agents have reported a lift in buying interest and some eye-popping sales.
Precision Real Estate agent Di Balich said she had been inundated with enquiries for one of her recent beachfront listings within two days of sending it out to her database. The property is now under contract, and while she can’t disclose the price, she said it was “at the upper level”.
The year started with a flurry of big deals in the beach town, with OneRoof recording two sales of $8 million-plus in February. But the summer heat didn’t last and the big-ticket sales dried up.
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Balich said the mood had changed again, with buyers believing the market to be more stable.
“There have been certain buyers looking at everything and buying nothing, but they’ve educated themselves. So when they see something like this one, they can pounce,” she told OneRoof.
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Balich said she had two $7m-plus homes still available for sale – 8 Lagoon Way and 39 Taumata Road – and was about to start marketing two properties in the $7m to $9m price bracket.
Ray White Omaha-Matakana owner Heather Walton said the housing market in Omaha was going through a period of change, with long-time bach owners keen to sell now their kids had grown up.
“A lot of the people have been in Omaha now 15 or more years, from when the subdivision was created. Most of their children have now got children of their own and they’ve all got different plans. So people, particularly with waterfront homes, are moving on,” she said.
“They have wealth-driven problems. They say to me, ‘We’ve got four houses, Heather – it’s greedy. We don’t use this one. We would just love somebody else to enjoy it’.
A prestige beach home at 8 Lagoon Way, in Omaha, is for sale by deadline closing October 31. Photo / Supplied
An impressive three-bedroom bach for sale at 41 Kokopu Street, in Omaha. Photo / Supplied
“It’s the changing of the guard, and it’s lovely watching the younger families coming in.”
The agent pointed to a refurbished three-bedroom property for sale at 41 Kokopu Street. The owners were selling because their children had flown the nest and they were spending more time travelling or at their Queenstown home.
Walton said the new crop of buyers were wary of older houses, preferring renovated or new-build baches instead. They were also prepared to pay a premium for someone else’s work. “If a house is done up, you can sell for double the CV.”
Walton said location was just as important as quality. “I have a list of 28 people who know exactly what they want on the waterfront, waiting to do the shuffle,” she said.
“It’s not about the money, it’s about the perfect position.”
A three-bedroom bach on Day Dawn Crescent, in Omaha, sold for more than half a million dollars above the reserve at auction. Photo / Supplied
She also noted that price limits tended to fly out the window when a buyer who says they want to spend only $4m gets into an auction room and sees the competition. “Next thing they’ve got their hand up at $5m,” she said.
Late last month, Bayleys agent Victoria Turner sold a four-bedroom house on Dawn Day Crescent under the hammer for $2.45m – $550,000 above its pre-auction offer and $725,000 above its CV.
She had five registered buyers at the auction after getting nearly 60 groups of buyers through the open homes.
“There are healthy numbers of cash buyers looking for the family beach house,” she said. “I’ve sold everything on my books this year,” she said.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Omaha
