A renovated four-bedroom bach at one of New Zealand’s best surf beaches sold under the hammer this week for $3.32 million - more than double its 2017 CV of $1.54 million.
The Barfoot and Thompson auction for 28 Garden Road, in Piha, on Auckland’s western most fringes, had been brought forward after the vendor accepted a pre-auction offer of $3.25 million.
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Three online bidders – including one Kiwi bidding from California – competed to secure the 1882sqm property, with the eventual winner a resident of the area.
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The listing agents, Terry Gray and Angela Smith, called the home “the prize of Piha”.
“It is unique, it is the one, there is nothing else in Piha in that position,” Gray told OneRoof.
While Gray would not disclose who the buyer was, he said that house-hunters in Piha were a mix of those looking for a second home and buyers wanting to live full-time at the beach and work remotely.
The $3.32 million sale is Piha’s highest settled sale price post-Covid, topping the December price of $3.0005 million for 185 Marine Parade, a hill-top property of over 6943sqm, with 180 degree views of the beach.
The Piha bach has one of the best locations on the surf beach. Photo / Supplied
Gray said the beach town was now desperately short of listings, with only two or three properties left for sale.
“Normally we’d see 12 to 19 properties to meet demand,” he said.
28 Garden Road wasn’t the only big Auckland sale at Barfoot and Thompson’s auctions this week, with several properties selling for well over $2 million under the hammer.
2 Tawera Road, in Greenlane, sold for $4.46 million, more than $2 million above CV. Photo / Supplied
One, 5 Park Avenue, in Grafton, sold for $3.83 million - $1.22 million above its CV. The property, which is divided into flats currently yielding $125,000 a year, is zoned mixed housing suburban and attracted a mix of developers and investors.
The listing agent, Jeff Stretton, who marketed the property with Angel Li, said 11 bidders competed to secure the 771sqm property. “Buyers see the market going up and think it is better to be sitting in something that's not losing value. While you get plans in place, you’ve got a nice holding income,” he said.
Wednesday’s top non-development sale was of a four-bedroom stylish 1960s build home at 73 Hapua Street, in Remuera, which sold for $2.895 million – almost $1 million above its CV of $1.9 million.
73 Hapua Street, in Remuera, sold for $2.895 million. Photo / Supplied
Thursday’s top sale price was $4.46 million for a four-bedroom home on a 701sqm section at 2 Tawera Road, in Greenlane. The property sold for more than $2 million above its CV and $1 million above the reserve.
The listing agent, Dylan Tracey, who marketed the property with Helen Lam, said: “There were ten registered bidders, seven of them active by phone or online. We sold this over two lockdowns so that’s an incredible price in an insatiable market.”
The double grammar zone property, which is zoned for terrace housing and apartments, was marketed as a land bank and development opportunity, with most of the enquiry coming from investors and developers. “Once families hear the price feedback of $3 million plus, they don’t see themselves in the ballpark for a do-up,” Tracey said.
Developers and investors pushed the price of 60 Whitehaven Road, in Glendowie, to $2.43 million. Photo / Supplied
Another development site, 50 Whitehaven Road, in Glendowie, went for $2.43 million - what the listing agent, Kelly Millwood, called an “entry level price” for development opportunity in the suburb. She said that most of the developers in the area were planning to hold for the short term and develop later, as there was a ready market for completed town houses.
“The market is there. A development at 17 Roberta Avenue a colleague [Paul Neshausen] put on the market last week sold 14 out of 17 units straight away.
“At the beginning of last year, a beautiful brand-new house on a half site would go for $2.2 million. By November, that house would get $2.68 million.“
Barfoot and Thompson managing director Peter Thompson said that of the company’s 1124 sales in February, more than half - 56% – went for more than $1 million.
“Last year, $1 million-plus homes accounted for just over 40% of sales,” he said.
The booming market drove the company’s February sales to the highest for the month since 2004, and Thompson sees no signs of slowdown.
“It’s been an incredible month, and sales keep coming in March. That’s going to be a sign for the next two or three months. There are still unknowns, but the big increase in the number of transactions is a sign of confidence, and we need that in the economy.”
Thompson said that more properties being listed would bring balance back to the market.
“My warning [to vendors] is don’t go over-expecting, there is competition out there now.”
