A run-down villa in Auckland has sold at a hugely discounted price of $4.75 million – $1.7m less than what the current owner paid for it about three years ago.
A developer picked up the 1910s villa on Lauchlan Avenue, in Epsom, along with the resource consent to build eight freestanding houses on the 2023sqm site that’s zoned for mixed housing urban.
The eight-bedroom house with views over the city had been on the market for a year after the overseas owner bought it in December 2020 and decided to put it up for sale a year later.
The listing described the vendor as “genuinely motivated” to have it sold at an “irresistible price”.
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The property passed in at auction earlier this month at $4.7m, but sold shortly after for $4.75m.
Barfoot & Thompson agent Sylvia Lu said it was a “cheap” price.
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The new owner is a developer and plans to go ahead with building the multiple houses that have already been approved for the site, she said.
Lu said the property took a year to sell because the connection with the drainage for the stormwater had not been sorted out until she became involved and got the neighbour to agree.
The property caused shockwaves when it sold at auction in December 2020 for a staggering $2.5m above its 2017 CV after four developers fought over it.
The original developer had wanted to bowl the old house and build terrace apartments in its place, but has since abandoned those plans and is now living overseas.
The tired-looking home has views over the city. Photo / Supplied
The large 2023sqm site attracted developers. Photo / Supplied
The zoning falls outside the popular double grammar school zone, but is in zone for Royal Oak School, Royal Oak Intermediate and Onehunga High School.
Lu said a lot of people were looking for good properties but there wasn’t enough stock.
Most of the demand was coming from owner-occupiers rather than developers, she said.
Last week a 1960s property split into two flats on Gifford Street, in St Heliers, sold at auction for $4m – $800,000 over its reserve and nearly $1m over its CV.
Barfoot & Thompson listing agent Aaron Foss told OneRoof last week that there had been a lot of interest in the 726sqm property, which sits on an exclusive site just off the main Saint Heliers Bay Road.
Families and developers were among the 17 groups bidding for the house, which Foss said was uninhabitable in its current state.
However, the successful bidder was someone who planned to build a new family home on the site, he said.
“There is a real shortage of good sites, elevated and with views – and of good-sized family homes with a pool, around that $3m to $4m. Buyers are very specific about staying in the Glendowie, Kohimarama and St Heliers area.
“I just tell people to get their listings on the market.”
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