A grand home billed as a renovation project sold at auction yesterday for $7.2 million – $2.4 million more than what the vendor paid for it less than two years ago.
Nine registered bidders - six on the phone and three online – competed to secure 57 St Georges Bay Road, in Parnell, Auckland, at Barfoot and Thompson’s auction.
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The listing agent, Cindy Yu, said more than 40 buyers had viewed the tired house, which sits on 1518 sqm land in one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs.
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Interested parties were a mix of developers keen on its zoning for density, expats and families looking for a do-up in double grammar zone.
“People were expecting to pay over $6 million, so there are eight people still shopping with that sort of budget. We had enquiries from London, Sydney and Hong Kong, but in the end all the bidders were local,” she told OneRoof.
“There's else nothing like this: such a big piece of land, quite flat, so close to the city with good amenities and good sun, private from the road.”
The property last changed hands in July 2019 for $4.8 million. The vendor had plans drawn up to develop five standalone houses on the property. Although the mixed housing urban zoning would allow much denser developments of up to 11 metres high, Yu said the planned homes were a more palatable option for the neighbours.
The St Georges Bay Road property had high density zoning and resource consent for five houses, but could fit more. Photo / Supplied
While $7.2 million is a big sum, even for Parnell, it falls short of the suburb’s highest settled sale price post-Covid: $9.75 million for a 1930s heritage architect-designed house at 40 St Stephens Avenue.
The sale of the immaculate five-bedroom property on a 1386sqm section by father and son agents Graham and Ollie Wall signalled a long-overdue resurgence of the suburb, Ollie Wall said.
“It’s due a renaissance it is so under-valued. It’s the prettiest township, right by the city on the hill, with great big houses and harbour views. It went out of fashion but it’s the best place to live. why has it not come up like Ponsonby and Herne Bay?” he said
“It bloody well should. It’s crazy when Herne Bay gets $20 million and Parnell’s record is just $10 million.”
Ollie Wall told OneRoof that the suburb was one of the most tightly held in Auckland. He expects a home he is currently marketing will set a new price record for Parnell.
“It has been in the same family for over 30, nearly 40 years. It’s only when [older owners] are downsizing or moving into retirement, that young families can move in. Then it will become a legacy property for them, and they’ll stay as long.
“There’s an injection of excitement with the industrial precinct down by the textile centre, introducing young cool people will help."
The 2020 record price for Parnell was $9.75 million for a heritage house at 40 St Stephens Avenue. Photo / Supplied
Barfoot & Thompson Parnell branch manager Pauline Goldfinch said buyers were scrambling to find properties in the $6 million-plus market.
She said developers were keen on all the inner suburbs circling the city, whether they’re double grammar zone or not, because of end-buyer demand for proximity and amenity.
“The state of the market is very good, but it’s very tightly held. Some of the developers end up keeping the big properties [like St Georges Bay Road] as private homes for themselves, before developing. There’s a lot of that going on,” she said.
