The owners of a high-end house on Hamilton Lake are prepared to take up to a $550,000 hit on the waterfront property, which they bought last year for $2.8 million.
The 312sqm house at 133 Lake Crescent with arguably the best views of Hamilton Lake is going under the hammer next month with an advertised reserve price of $2.25m.
The reserve is also well below the $2.7m RV and the recent asking price of $2.499m.
Harcourts listing agents Christine Willis and Ray Mitchell said the owners were ready to meet the market and understood it had changed since purchasing both the lifestyle and lake properties last year.
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The couple sold their lifestyle property in Tamahere for the lock-up-and-leave Lake Crescent house before deciding they weren’t ready for that type of property. They then bought a brand-new lifestyle property at Jakes Place in Te Kowhai.
However, Willis said the couple who “move around a bit” had decided to sell both properties before planning to buy on the same market.
The luxury Hamilton Lake property was bought by the vendors last year for $2.8m. Photo / Supplied
“I think seasoned people who are familiar with the property market and work in the property market understand it’s the plus and minuses. The home they sold to buy this house, the profit margin from that property was massive from what they paid for it so they get the market has highs and lows and they sold in the high and also bought in the high and now they are selling in this slowing market.”
Mitchell and Willis sold the Jakes Place property last month and 133 Lake Crescent is going to auction in October.
Willis said by advertising the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home with the reserve price they hoped to attract buyers around the $2m level to show that the vendors are serious about looking at all reasonable offers despite paying $2.8m for it last year.
“I think there’s a misconception with auction that the vendors want too much so I think disclosing the reserve as we have is a marketing tactic, but it’s also designed to let any potential buyers to know that these sellers are serious.”
It is the first time the real estate duo have marketed a property with an advertised reserve price.
Willis said the house’s stand-out features were its 190-degree lake views, which are one of the best in the area due to being elevated. It is also a perfect house for entertaining and on the “right side of the lake” for all-day sun.
“If you picked this house up and put it in Auckland or Queenstown, it would be a bargain. I still think it’s extremely well-priced for the Hamilton market, but I think we are still, as a city, growing up and accepting that you couldn’t build this property for what it’s selling at – you just can’t, let alone find the land.”
A five-bedroom “lock-up-and-leave” home at 169 Lake Crescent is priced at $2.7m. Photo / Supplied
While properties overlooking either the lake and river are seen as being the city’s premium locations, Mitchell said the lake offered a more active view.
“We always say night time, day time – there’s lights, there’s activity, there’s people walking.”
Mitchell said a sense of urgency is lacking in the current market and buyers in the upper-end are slower to make an offer.
“There maybe three or four inspections, there’s more interest in the smaller things in the property and the detail before something actually goes on paper.”
In this market sellers have to be priced right and if not priced, he said, ready to accept the market like these owners.
The Lake Crescent property will suit both lifestyle block owners wanting a lock-up-and-leave property or families with older children seeking different high school zoning, they said.
The Harcourt’s agents are also selling a nearby property at 169 Lake Crescent, which has an asking price of $2.7m. The five-bedroom, three-bathroom house boasts a pool, media room and four-car garaging.
CoreLogic chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said they are starting to see a slight increase in the number of people selling their properties for less than what they paid due to house prices falling in the past six to seven months and owners now willing to meet the market.
CoreLogic chief economist Kelvin Davidson says owner-occupiers should remember they are buying and selling on the same market. Photo / Peter Meecham
He expected this could continue to happen – but not in a massive wave – due to personal choice, rising interest rates and bank pressure.
All the properties which, according to CoreLogic’s pain and gain report for the three months ending June 2022, had taken a loss had only been held onto for 12 to 18 months.
Often in these cases, people were forced to sell because of unforeseen circumstance such as divorce or death as people didn’t usually buy a property with the intent of only owning it for 12 months, Davidson said.
“It’s probably unfortunate timing probably in the sense that they might have bought just at the peak of the market and are selling as the market is falling so there will be a financial hit there,” he said.
Davidson said while a drop could hurt investors, it may not be as bad for owner-occupiers buying and selling on the same market.
“I suppose some people view it a bit differently and they might have been in the property market for a long period of time thinking I might lose $200,000 on this, but I’m still way ahead over time and really I just want the house I like and I’m prepared to move and it suits family reasons or whatever.”
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