- A South Auckland home sold for $1.72m, surpassing its $1.4m reserve, due to developer interest.
- The 900sqm Papatoetoe property attracted strong bidding despite its poor condition and location on a busy road.
- The new owner plans to build 7-8 affordable homes, highlighting demand for developable land without water constraints.
A shabby home on a corner section in South Auckland has sold under the hammer for $1.72 million, exceeding the expectations of the brother and sister who inherited it.
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The siblings thought the property on Carruth Road, in Papatoetoe, was doomed to fall short of its $1.4m reserve, but the buyers who turned up at the Barfoot & Thompson auction just kept bidding.
Listing agent Donald Gupta told OneRoof that developers were hot for the 900sqm corner section. “The sellers were over the moon. They could not believe buyers were fighting for their piece of land. The bids were like $30,000, $10,000.”
The home had been vacant for more than six months and was uninhabitable in its current condition. Photo / Supplied
About 40 people gathered for the auction held at the property, with a dozen or so buyers registering to bid and taking part. “It was very quick and fast,” Gupta said.
The property was in poor condition and had not been lived in for at least six months. It was also on a busy road with yellow lines all around it. To get the price it did was amazing, Gupta said.
Investors and renovators had shown interest in bringing the house up to scratch, but the developers at auction had deeper pockets.
The new owner plans to replace the existing house with 7-8 affordable new-build homes.
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Gupta said there were water constraints in parts of Papatoetoe, so properties with no such issues, like his listing, were highly valued. He now had 10 buyers still looking for large flat sections after missing out on Carruth Road.
In April, he sold a three-bedroom home on a similarly sized section on nearby Caspar Road for $1.051m. The property had water issues, with the wastewater network not due to be upgraded until 2035/2040.
“Because it was in the red zone and had water issues it sold for $700,000 less.”
A property on Caspar Road sold last month for $1.051m. Photo / Supplied
The property had wastewater constraints and could not be developed for at least 10 years. Photo / Supplied
Red zones refer to areas with capacity constraints in Watercare’s water and wastewater networks. Some of the worst-affected suburbs may not be able to be developed until the network is upgraded in 10 or more years.
Harcourts salesperson Alex Dunn said he was having some tough conversations with homeowners who hadn’t realised how the water constraints could impact their price.
Ōtara and Ōtāhuhu were other examples where some houses were getting good prices because they could be developed, but houses in nearby suburbs with water or wastewater constraints were selling for several hundred thousand dollars less. “It is underwhelming to explain to an owner because a lot of the owners are not familiar with these red zones,” Dunn said.
Many homeowners had their minds set on selling to a developer because they thought they would get a lot of money and had plans to sell up and buy a beach house and a caravan, but were now finding out they couldn’t, he said.
“It pretty much changes the whole demographic you are targeting.”
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