ff-market real estate deals have picked up in Auckland’s North Shore, with one agent closing several multi-million-dollar deals in a short period of time.
Travers Smyth, from Harcourts Takapuna, told OneRoof that he had done four off-market deals in the first two weeks of December, with sales ranging from $1.45 million to $2.3 million-plus.
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He said the deals were struck after vendors asked him if he had any buyers on his database who willing to purchase before the holidays. “I’ve had sellers says, ‘Hey, if you’ve got any buyers now, bring them through’.”
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He said some of his vendors had been debating whether to list in January or February, so bringing in buyers from his database allowed them to gauge quickly where their property sat in the market.
“One deal, I showed the buyers through on a Sunday and they had put in an offer by the Tuesday. The $2.3 million sale, buyers looked at it Tuesday and brought an offer on Thursday.”
Smyth said that for these deals the buyers had been looking around for a while – some over a year – and were a mix of up-sizers and down-sizers.
“They’ll ask ‘what do the sellers want?’ If the sellers don’t know, they’ll come back with more if it’s not their dream price. No one's been lowballing. They’re all quite reasonable offers.
A development site in Remuera sold in just five days off market for $8.6 million. Photo / Supplied
He added: “I think we’ve had a bit of a Christmas rush because people just want to get a contract. They may not settle until next year, but it’s all sorted before they go away.”
“They’re cashed up now and know what they’ve got to spend.”
Prices for off-market deals are not usually made public, but a deal done by Ray White agent Ross Hawkins at the start of November for 37 St Vincent Avenue, in Remuera, for $8.6 million was a rare exception.
The 1920s house with tennis court on a 2565sqm site formerly owned by one of Auckland's department store scions, the Milne family of Milne and Choyce, sold to a developer who plans to remove the original house.
Hawkins told OneRoof he secured a deal within five days of searching his database, and said the buyer planned to build quality housing on the site.
