- Kāinga Ora is selling two neighbouring houses in Ponsonby, marketed as a development opportunity.
- The properties on Parawai Crescent have a combined RV of $4.33m and span 1284sqm.
- Agents suggest buyers will likely demolish the houses to develop the land.
Two neighbouring houses in the wealthy Auckland suburb of Ponsonby have hit the market together – and buyers are being invited to bring their wrecking ball.
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The run-down properties have been listed for sale by Kāinga Ora as part of its mass sell-off of state homes.
16 and 18 Parawai Crescent have a combined RV of $4.33 million and sit on 1284sqm of development-zoned land that backs onto the popular Bayfield Park.
16 Parawai Crescent is a three-bedroom weatherboard house on a 632sqm section, while 18 Parawai Crescent is a two-bedroom, brick-and-tile home on a 652sqm section.
16 Parawai Crescent is available separately or together with its neighbour. Photo / Supplied
The red brick state house at 18 Parawai Crescent will likely be demolished. Photo / Supplied
Barfoot & Thompson agents Philip Davis and Eddie Zhao are offering buyers the chance to buy one or both together, describing the properties as the “ultimate Ponsonby development opportunity” in their listing.
“Here’s a rare chance to secure a gently sloping and park frontage landholding of 1284sqm zoned Mixed Housing Urban in one of Auckland’s most sought-after and central locations,” the agents write in their marketing.
“This unique offering provides an investor with a blank canvas to unlock the full potential of this expansive site.”
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The properties are a 10-minute walk from New Zealand’s most expensive state house, a four-bedroom villa at 18 Trinity Street. That property, which has an RV of $3.15m, goes to auction on October 15.
Ponsonby has been one of Auckland’s trendiest and desirable suburbs for some decades now, and while the overwhelming majority of the character homes there have benefitted from expensive renovations, there are some dumps left.
What’s unusual in the case of 16 and 18 Parawai Crescent is that the listing agents are going after developers rather than renovators.
Independent agent Jason Trowbridge, who has sold Ponsonby villas for more than 30 years, said the Parawai properties would almost certainly be bought by someone who will flatten the houses and develop the land.
18 Trinity Street, in Ponsonby, is also being sold by Kāinga Ora. It has an RV of $3.15m and goes to auction next month. Photo / Supplied
Trowbridge added that Ponsonby still had a steady stream of do-ups for buyers willing to do the work, telling OneRoof he had four such properties ready to hit the market.
He said most of the do-ups in the suburb were either owned by people who were too old to maintain them or had been inherited by family members who didn’t have the means to renovate them themselves, “so they sell”.
Trowbridge noted that he had a strong interest in these types of properties, mostly because he knew the owners. “I can think of a case 18 months ago where I’d been chatting to the family for over 20 years. That’s not uncommon,” he told OneRoof.
“I’m in touch with these people at various points over the years. A lot of what I do is education. Often, I’m finding the plumber, the gardener, or the electrician for them well before they sell. There’s usually an emotional connection. Some families built these houses, or it was the first thing they owned in New Zealand. They never dreamed they’d be worth what they are today.
Ponsonby is one of Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs and attracts buyers looking for renovated character villas. Photo / Getty Images
“These days, [Ponsonby] buyers can spend more than $1m on the renovation work. I work with developers where the end price tag on their product will be between five and six million dollars, and there will be a queue of people wanting to buy them.
“I see so many homes today that feel like hotel suites. They’re done with grand architects and there are beautiful examples all through Ponsonby, Grey Lynn, Freemans Bay, Herne Bay, the Northern Slopes and Westmere.”
He warned buyers looking for Ponsonby do-ups to come with big budgets. “You’d want to have the second $2m on top of your purchase price if you want that beautiful home and garden ambience.”
Arizto agent Brian Rodrigues, who recently sold a do-up villa in nearby Kingsland for just over $1m, said that such properties were popular with buyers. “There are heaps of dumps in Kingsland and Ponsonby,” he said.
The three-bedroom home he sold on Fourth Avenue, in Kingsland, attracted two types of buyers, he said.
“Traders. They want to buy and flip. Families, young couples, they want somewhere to live, and maybe they’ll flip it someday.”
- 16 and 18 Parawai Crescent, Ponsonby, Auckland, are for sale, tender closing October 16
