A townhouse in a new development in West Auckland is going to auction this weekend with a reserve of just $1.
The brand-new two-bedroom home in the McLeod Green complex at 33/148 McLeod Road, Te Atatu, is one of the last five homes in the 60-unit development, says Wallace and Stratton agent Mitchell Eades, who is marketing the property.
“There’s no particular reason why this one has a $1 reserve, the developer just randomly picked one. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Eades told OneRoof.
He says the architecturally-designed townhouse with a courtyard and one off-street car park is expected to get its title and Auckland Council certificate of completion this month, with settlement expected in October.
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Eades says so far 10 buyers have registered for the auction on Sunday, but he expects more to show up on the day. He and the developers are optimistic that the sale will reach a price of around the high $600,000s, but would not comment on how that compares with the prices paid by buyers of the other 55 units.
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“Some would have been bought last year, as the market peaked, so I don’t know what they paid. We’ve had offers on identical units this week, but I cannot say what they went for,” he says, adding that buyers who miss out on the auction can still make conditional offers on the remaining homes.
OneRoof records show that some two-bedroom units were recently asking around $700,000 but in February last year, when the project was selling off-the-plan, search prices reached $875,000 for a two-bedroom terrace.
The two-bedroom home is in the last batch of houses to sell in the 60-unit McLeod Green complex in Te Atatu. Photo / Supplied
Units in McLeod Green have a current asking price of around $700,000, but when they were selling off-the-plan in February last year, the units were looking for over $800,000. Photo / Supplied
Eades does not think the auction price will affect the value of the other properties when owners go to resell.
“The developers are aware of that, but just said ‘do it’. There are some [buyers] that would have paid more, but everyone knows it is an anomaly. It will not affect the price of the other 50-some homes.
“Off-the-plan prices have gone up and down as they stay relevant to the market price when they are selling,” Eades adds.
The developers, Brilliant Stone, through their construction company KBS Construction, are also marketing the Amaia, on Esmonde Road in Takapuna. The first stage of the multi-block apartment village is reported by NZ Herald to cost $350 million for the two seven-storey blocks of 543 units.
The developers will be hoping for a better result than that achieved in another $1 reserve auction for a townhouse in South Auckland in April.
The brand-new three-bedroom property on Russell Road, Manurewa, sold under the hammer for $641,200. Twelve bidders competed for the property, which did have some special conditions that required specific registration by buyers. Other properties in the six-terrace complex had settled earlier in the year for between $800,000 and $930,000, OneRoof records showed.
And in July this year, a troubled apartment on Carrington Road, Mount Albert, sold for just its $1 reserve. Buyers had been warned off the four-bedroom apartment in the complex, which had alarming lack of disclosure in the body corporate documents, and it sold to the owner of another apartment in the same complex.
- 33/148 McLeod Road, Te Atatu, will be auctioned on August 27
