Westmere auction stunner: ‘Buyers saw it on the Tuesday, bought the next day’

The housing market has picked up the pace in Auckland’s more desirable and expensive suburbs, with a four-bedroom bungalow in Westmere selling under the hammer within a week of hitting the market.

Bayleys agent Cristina Casares told OneRoof that four bidders drove the price of the Warnock Street home to $2.36 million – more than $60,000 above the reserve and just below CV.

She said her vendors received a pre-auction offer the day after the first open home and brought the auction forward to the next day.

“The buyers saw it on the Tuesday, bought the next day. They’d missed out on others in the area in the last month,” she said.

Those who saw the house liked that it was tidy, liveable and had the potential to be extended.

Casares said interest in Auckland’s inner-city suburbs was high. Earlier in the month a tidy three-bedroom Victorian, one of a duplex pair, went for $1.6m after four bidders competed for it. It had a CV of $2.875m, but Casares said the house needed work, including re-roofing and re-piling.

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“Factoring in the work you’d maybe spend $500,000, but given the location and the features there’s potential to add value," she said.

“We had a lot of developers looking for do-ups but they’re not in the market at the moment because they’re not seeing what they want.”

Bayleys agent Luke McCaw said that even in high-priced inner-city suburbs, homeowners were wary of over-extending themselves on a renovation or over-capitalising.

He said a completely renovated home he is bringing to auction October 4 at 22 Chamberlain Street, Grey Lynn, was drawing interest from buyers who were looking for something that was already done up.

“No-one wants to spend millions and come out the end that they can’t get that back,” he said.

“It does depend on the value of the home versus the cost to renovate, and whether you do the basement garage or add another floor, do the pool.”

Huge numbers of buyers who don’t have the appetite for their own renovation are looking at a renovated place like 61 Clarence Street, Ponsonby, which is likely to sell for more than its $4m CV. Photo / Supplied

A villa on 14 Cooper Street, Grey Lynn, on the market for the first time in 40 years, is being billed as in need of some TLC. Photo / Supplied

The four-bedroom home on Chamberlain Street, advertised as “Victorian in the front, Bali in the back” features a modern rear extension, swimming pool, luxury finishes in the bathroom and kitchen and coveted off-street parking.

Records show the home changed hands in 2020 for $3.3m and now has a CV of $3.8m.

Two other Grey Lynn places McCaw had that were ripe for renovation – a smart three-bedroom bungalow on Allen Road and another three-bedroom bungalow on a cross-lease on Sefton Avenue – both sold for asking price or close to ($2.095m for Allen Road and $1.575m for Sefton Avenue).

Records show the Allen Road home sold last in March 2020 for $1.865m, and had a CV of $2.675m, while Sefton Avenue sold last in September 2020 for $1.3m, and had a CV of $1.475m.

“Buyers love the character of these homes, they like that pocket of Grey Lynn and some like the fact that these are not the Grey Lynn white box,” McCaw said.

Barfoot & Thompson agents Ben Buchanan and Deb Ball have just listed a three-bedroom villa at 14 Cooper Street, Grey Lynn, that is ripe for an overhaul.

The villa on a 321sqm site has been in the same hands for 40 years, when it was last updated, and the agents have billed it as in need of TLC.

A bungalow with potential for renovation on Allen Road, Grey Lynn, sold recently for $2.095m. Photo / Supplied

The house, which has a CV of $1.975m, goes to auction October 11.

But for the rare done-up homes, buyers with big budgets are flocking. A completely transformed house at 61 Clarence Street, Ponsonby, which Bayleys agents Peter Tanner and Paula Halford are bringing to auction October 4, has drawn exceptional crowds.

While Tanner could not say what price the property would likely fetch under the hammer, he told OneRoof that buyers were expecting it to sell for more than its $4m CV.

“We’ve already had nearly 100 groups through in just three open homes and private viewings. It’s attracted people just looking at the design, but also genuine buyers who know it is $4m-plus.

“People really don’t have a great appetite to renovate, with the risk around the costs and time to do it, so they just circle back around to what’s on the market.

“There really is very little. Some people are cashed up, they’ve been renting for six months and are now keen to buy.

“There just are not a lot of properties in the Ponsonby area.”

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