- The owners of a Hamilton bungalow netted almost $2m after a competitive auction.
- The property, with a sale price of $1.91m, exceeded its RV of $810,000.
- Agents report increased buyer demand in Hamilton, especially from young families seeking larger homes.
The owners of a Hamilton bungalow netted almost $2 million after two families battled it out in the auction room last week.
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The renovated home on Brookfield Street, in Hamilton East, was scooped up within a week of hitting the market, and it’s not the only property in the city to feel the heat, with agents reporting a spike in buyer demand, especially from young families.
Lugtons’ Fraser Kilgour, who marketed the property with colleague Abbie Hyde, told OneRoof that the Brookfield Street sale was a fantastic result for his clients.
The property was announced on the market at $1.85m and sold for $1.91m after two eager parties placed a total of 36 bids. The sale price also smashed the RV of $810,000, which dated back to when the property was part of a cross-lease.
The refreshed Brookfield Street property hit the mark for families on the lookout for the step up. Photo / Supplied
“The vendors are super excited by it. It didn’t shock us, I don’t think – the way the house looked and the way it was presented and the groups it got through – but it was impressive result.”
Nearly 70 groups looked at the four-bedroom home during its first – and only – weekend of open homes.
Kilgour said much of the interest had come from young families looking for their next step up. The new owners lived in the area and had been on the lookout for a larger property to raise their three young children.
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The well-presented home had everything they wanted: two living areas, a good indoor-outdoor flow, a massive lawn and a swimming pool, Kilgour said.
The inside of the home was recently repainted, new carpet laid and the concrete floors repolished just before it hit the market.
“It had all those boxes ticked, but it wasn’t coming with the admin of an old character home. There were no drawbacks to it.”
Kilgour said family homes in Hamilton East rarely exceeded $1.5m. “It was pretty special and pretty unique that one. You get those once every five years – those sort of properties.”
A five-bedroom villa at 643 Grey Street, in Hamilton East, is heading to auction on December 4. Photo / Supplied
Bayleys agent Rachel Waldegrave noted that momentum was starting to build in the city, with more auctions being brought forward and more properties selling under the hammer.
“A lot of it is younger families looking to buy their forever home, but they will look at high school zoning because they are wanting to future-proof themselves. So, they are prepared to invest because they know they might live there for 20 years.”
Earlier this month, a beautifully presented five-bedroom, three-bathroom character home on River Road, in Fairfield, with water views sold for $2.6m after attracting seven bidders.
Waldegrave expected similar interest for a five-bedroom, two-bathroom property she is selling at 643 Grey Street, in Hamilton East. The property, which has an RV of $1.7m, went live this week and boasts a swimming pool, tennis court and a rare 2620sqm section with potential to be subdivided.
A do-up house on Eliot Street, in Enderley, recently sold for $499,000. Photo / Supplied
“It’s really special. It would be hard to find something like that in central Hamilton anymore.”
Lodge agent Blair Pointon had also seen a huge spike in demand over the last two weeks, especially for good family and higher-end homes. Last week he had two properties sell in brought-forward auctions just after a week on the market and for significantly more than the pre-auction offers.
“The market is heating up significantly with the Christmas deadline.” This was leading to more unconditional offers because buyers didn’t want to miss out, he said.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Holly Place in Rototuna fetched $1.091m. A modern lifestyle property on Karakariki Valley Road, in Whatawhata sold for $1.685m – $135,000 more than the acceptable pre-auction offer.
“What you’ve got to realise with pre-auction offers is that the vendor is saying they are happy to sell it if there are no other bids at that level.”
Lodge agent Glenn Collins just sold a three-bedroom, one-bathroom do-up house on Eliot Street, in Enderley, for $499,000 a week before its planned auction date.
“It’s just the right home. There’s no specific – it’s characters in Hamilton East, new homes, decile 10 schooling / wanting to get into schooling before next year – it’s nothing like that, it is genuinely that right home and buyer,” Collins said.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a fear of missing out; it’s that they like it, and they see little point in going through an auction process if they can put an offer in now that’s acceptable.”
However, he said that not all houses were selling quickly, and the market was still very price-sensitive. There were currently just 900 houses for sale in Hamilton so if people didn’t see value then they just moved on to the next one.
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