- An overseas buyer purchased a Queenstown bach for $4m, nearly double its RV of $2.12m.
- The buyer plans to replace the 1950s two-bedroom bach with a luxury holiday home.
- The property, held by the same family since 1957, attracted eight bidders due to its prime location.
A vintage Queenstown crib was snapped up at the weekend by an overseas buyer for $4 million – almost double its RV.
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The modest two-bedroom bach on Suburb Street, one of the last undeveloped lakefront sites in the wealthy tourist town, attracted eight bidders at Saturday’s on-site auction.
Colliers agent Fred Bramwell, who marketed the property with colleague Zach Hylton, said three of the eight bidders dropped out after the second bid, but the real knockout blow came from an overseas buyer who went to $4m after the 12th bid.
Bramwell was unsure of the buyers’ exact plans, but said everyone who had expressed an interest ahead of the auction wanted to remove the existing 1950s bach and replace it with a luxury holiday home. “That’s where the value in the site sits.”
He expected the owner might hold the property while plans for a new build were signed off.
The two-bedroom home has remained in the same family since it was built 70 years ago. Photo / Supplied
The corner property has clear views of Lake Wakatipu. Photo / Supplied
Bramwell put the intense demand for the original house down to the fact that there were very few key sites close to town.
“If you look along that key area – Park Street – there are limited transactions and more buyers. That campaign pulled out eight good buyers, and only one of them won, so that shows the level of interest in that key area down there.”
The property had been held in the same family since its construction in 1957, and sits on a corner section overlooking Lake Wakatipu and is just a short stroll from Queenstown’s CBD and Queenstown Gardens.
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“It is a front-row seat to one of the world’s most iconic alpine vistas,” the listing for the property said.
Mid-century Queenstown originals are a rare breed, with much of the housing stock ultra-modern and ultra-expensive.
Earlier this year, a bare section in Queenstown’s Lake Hayes Estate sold for nearly $7m at auction, placing it among the most expensive undeveloped residential sites ever sold in the region.
Another slice of Queenstown history is up for grabs: Ryecroft Cottage, at 1800 Gibbston Highway. Photo / Supplied
The picturesque five-bedroom designer home for sale at 4 Fishermans Lane, in Mount Creighton, Queenstown. Photo / Supplied
And a bach owned by the same family for more than 60 years is for sale in Wanaka, with expectations it will fetch far more than its RV of $6.94m.
Two other notable Queenstown homes listed in the past two weeks include a lavish stone home originally built in the 1800s and a rich-lister’s $10m-plus pad.
The historic Ryecroft Cottage, at 1800 Gibbston Highway, has an RV of $2.5m, sits on 4646sqm and has been extensively remodelled. It is listed with New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent David Penrose.
The $10m-plus home at 4 Fishermans Lane is owned by Kiwi rich-lister David Lawn, and OneRoof wrote about it when it first hit the market at the start of 2024. It is now listed for sale with another agent, Cam Winter of Oliver Road.
- Click here to find more properties for sale in Queenstown-Lakes
