- Bidders at a Christchurch auction placed over 70 bids for a home, eventually selling for $1.678 million.
- Harcourts Gold agent Mary Turnbull said the competition exceeded expectations, leaving one of the vendors in tears.
- The auction, featuring five bidders, highlighted strong demand despite low chances of more stock before Christmas.
There were gasps of disbelief at last week’s auction of a near-new home in Christchurch as the bidders vying to own the property refused to give up.
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More than 70 bids were placed on the Grayshott Avenue property before the hammer finally came down at $1.678 million – $408,000 above the RV.
Harcourts Gold agent Mary Turnbull told OneRoof the intensity of the competition had caught everyone in the room off guard. “People were going, ‘Oh my gosh, they keep going’,” she said.
She said the result exceeded the vendors’ expectations, one of whom “had tears in her eyes”.
Turnbull said the five registered bidders all had a go. In the closing minutes of the auction, it narrowed down to a three-way fight, and then a head-to-head clash between the two final contenders.
She said the quality of the four-bedroom home had brought out the buyers. “It had the X-factor. It is quite striking from the street and has good living spaces.”
The house has a good indoor-outdoor flow, which appealed to a wide range of buyers. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts Gold agent Mary Turnbull says it was a high-quality build with an impressive scullery. Photo / Supplied
The vendors, one of whom was in the building industry, were only selling so they could move on to another project.
Turnbull’s listing described the home as “lux and large”.
“There were no shortcuts. Everything from the kitchen benches – the scullery was incredible.”
She added: “I’ve got four buyers who missed out. I’d love another home in the area [to sell].”
Harcourts auctioneer Mark Morrison said the sale was the one everyone was talking about. “The bidding sequence was very long and there were very small bids,” he said.
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Morrison said there were 19 auctions held at the Harcourts Gold auction last Thursday, 13 of which attracted bids from at least one bidder. All up, there were 29 bidders chasing properties.
“That’s reasonably big numbers because we are seeing lots of auctions with just one bidder or no bidders – maybe two on a good day. So to have one auction with five and three auctions with four bidders is great.”
Morrison said the chances of more stock hitting the market before Christmas were low. “Even though there’s so much choice I guess there’s that sense of we know all the choice pre-Christmas, what are we going to buy,” he said.
“Sometimes when they’ve missed out on one or two homes previously then they go hard at securing the next one because they don’t want to lose again.”
The owners of a property on Waterholes Road, in Springston, were also chuffed with the result after pocketing more than they expected. The four-bedroom, two-bathroom brick home was announced on the market at $940,000 and sold for $992,000.
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