Ray White real estate agent Ross Tierney says there is so much urgency in the market he’s never been busier, as people get on with their lives.
That includes reassurance around the certainty of having somewhere to live.
“What’s become very apparent to me is as soon as we went into Level 3 houses, well, they’re an essential item. People need places to live,” he says.
Tierney, who sells homes in Auckland's popular central suburbs, including Remuera and Orakei, knows of people who sold prior to lockdown only to spend spent weeks at home anxious about where they were going to live.
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“So when they came out of lockdown it’s become quite frantic with people trying to secure some certainty for their life going forward and where they’re going to live.”
With a shortage of quality houses on the market “when people see the right property for them and if they’re in a position to buy it they’re using every means and dollar possible to buy it”.
There’s strong activity across every price band, Tierney says.
“Uncertainty is pretty scary for most people and I think buying a house and knowing where you’re going creates that certainty. It’s the busiest I’ve been. I’ve had offers left, right and centre. We’ve had auctions pulled forward, we’ve had properties withdrawn.”
Tierney and his colleague Andrew Fava recently sold a four-bedroom luxury home at 17 Sprott Road in Kohimarama for $4.9 million - $1.6 million above the 2017 council valuation.
The house, which was to be auctioned before the buyer made a compelling offer, was designed by award-winning Hulena Architects and features the latest sustainable technology, including 18 solar panels and a charging station for Tesla cars.
The post-lockdown housing market in Auckland is only three and half weeks old but has seen some notable sales.
This week, a run-down villa in Mount Eden sold for more than $1.5 million after receiving 27 offers in nine days, while another 100-year-old do-up villa in the nearby suburb of Kingsland went for $1.14 million.
In Remuera a clifftop home sold under the hammer for $8 million - $2.4 million above the CV and Remuera's highest sale price this year. In Ponsonby a four-bedroom villa sold for $3.375 million - $400,000 above the 2017 CV - and a three-bedroom house billed as an "entry-level classic", fetched $1.625 million under the hammer.
It's not just the top end of town that's feeling the heat. A modest three-bedroom home in Onehunga sold for $1.6 million, also well above its council valuation, with 10 bidders fighting it out in the auction room.
