A stylishly renovated bungalow in Westmere sold after only two weeks on the market for $4.35 million, $800,000 above its CV.
OneRoof records show that 20 years ago, the owners of the Nottingham Street home on a 477sqm section paid $880,000 for the bungalow, before embarking on a luxurious renovation that grew the house to 218sqm.
The sale demonstrates the changing face of the inner-city Auckland suburb, as prices climb to match the neighbouring suburb of Herne Bay and buyers jostle for walk-in ready homes.
The upgrades to the Nottingham Street bungalow included a new two-storied extension housing living, kitchen and dining quarters. A master suite was popped into the top floor for views across the leafy suburb to the harbour and the house has a pool, spa area and tropical garden.
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In his marketing for the property, Bayleys agent Edward Pack said: “This is a large and luxurious abode in a premier postcode for the discerning family.”
A week later, a more modest three-bedroom house on Larchwood Avenue, closer to the Grey Lynn edge of the suburb, marketed by Pack fetched $2.4m under the hammer, just above its $2.325m CV. The smartly renovated house, without a pool, had coveted off-street parking and an outdoor fireplace.
The house had last sold 20 years ago for $880,000 before luxurious additions were made. Photo / Supplied
Barfoot & Thompson agent Matt O’Rourke said that buyers at both the $4m-plus and the below $2m price points were drawn to the suburb.
“There are a lot of people – single people, older downsizers, young families – who want to get into the suburb for under $2m.
“Yes, they could add value, but there are plenty who want a liveable do-up for now,” he said, adding that a house that fit that bill – a smart three-bedroom house on Chester Avenue asking $1.995m – just sold after less than a month on the market.
“We sold a three-bedroom do-up house on Dorset Street in June for $2.514m. People moving from Point Chev or Mount Albert are happy to live in these sorts of houses to get into Westmere, with a nice backyard, in a good school zone.
A three-bedroom house on Chester Avenue sold for under $2m after less than a month on the market. Photo / Supplied
“It does depend on the house. People want a good backyard, facing the right way, they can deal with the bones of the house if those things are right. If they’re not, they get a bit more picky,” he said.
“It’s a coveted part of Auckland.”
O’Rourke said that developers were just starting to swing back into the market, but are still facing huge uncertainty over building costs, supply chains and times.
A property he is listing on Cumberland Avenue, on the corner of Garnet Road, had concepts for a trio of townhouses drawn up by the seller, who bought the house a year ago for $2.55m. He said the vendors were not developers but owner-occupiers who planned to replace the tidy three-bedroom bungalow before family circumstances changed.
Developers may well be looking at luxury development sales in the suburb and pushing pause.
The developer of a boutique run of eight townhouses slated for Tirotai Crescent had slashed by prices by $230,000 and $350,000 from their earlier asking. At One Garnet, on the corner of Garnet Road, the developer of a boutique six-apartment tower is starting construction, despite just two apartments under contract.
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins, who is marketing the development, told OneRoof: “In this case, it’s a developer who can go ahead and start the build after Christmas, to complete by mid 2024.
“We say ‘build it and they will come’, because a lot of people won’t buy off-the-plan looking that far ahead.”
Buyers who paid $2.55m a year ago for a bungalow on Cumberland Avenue are selling it with plans for three townhouses. Photo / Supplied
Developers may look closer to the coast where long-time Westmere resident, Greg Dennerly of New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty is targeting them with two large spreads on West End Road, both on the water.
One, a tidy five-bedroom bungalow on 1262sqm with a CV of $5m, is on the market for the first time in over 50 years he said, but could not comment on price.
Up the road, number 79 West End Road, he expects a smart three-bedroom bungalow on 951sqm, with its own mooring, could well fetch $7m – it has a CV of $5.7m.
He said such a spread could just as well go to an owner-occupier, pointing to a pair of houses on Kotare Avenue, around the corner, where buyers paid $6.7m and $4.85m at the end of last year for neighbouring houses that will be turned into an over-1400 sqm estate.
A five bedroom bungalow (centre, with grey roof) on a 951sqm waterfront site on West End Road, Westmere, may well go for $7m. Photo / Supplied
The suburb has seen its share of records. In 2020 a waterfront house set a price record of $24m when the Kiwi director of Shrek and the Chronicles of Narnia sold to ZURU Toys co-owner Anna Mowbray and former All Black Ali Williams. The couple have since riled neighbours with the construction noise on the new-build, and proposals to land helicopters at the property.
Last year the concrete and glass house on Rawene Avenue, once once rented by Hollywood action star Jason Statham, and his partner, model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, fetched $17.68m. It was sold by rich-lister Sharon Hunter and former Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell, who had first brought it to market in 2016.
In the same street, an architect-designed house changed hands twice in two months, the second time in December for $6.2m, which was $1.1m more than when it sold in October.
In other parts of the suburb, a super-modern house in Sunny Brae Crescent, Westmere, sold for $6.2m and another on Winsomere Crescent for $7.62m.
