A grand mansion overlooking Auckland harbour sold under the hammer for $5.28 million in the housing market's first big test of 2021.
The five-bedroom house at 55 Stanley Point Road, in Devonport, fetched more than $700,000 above its 2017 rating valuation after the auction was brought forward from the original date of early March.
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The waterfront property, one of more than 30 that Barfoot and Thompson has sold under the hammer in the first three weeks of the year, had been on the market since November 2018, but it was relisted by agents Leila and David MacDonald just before Christmas.
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The Auckland buyers viewed the property on Friday January 8 and made an offer the following Sunday. Leila MacDonald told OneRoof: "There had been a lot of interest from quite a few people, but they didn't make the auction. It's a good price and everybody's happy - they're so pleased they didn't have to wait until March."
The vendors, Matt and Victoria Silwood, bought the house in 2013 for $3.4 million after 10 years abroad. They told OneRoof back in 2018 that the property, which sits on a 1679sqm waterfront section, had seemed almost too good to be true when they first saw inspected it.
"As we stood on the lawn, it looked like something from Country Life magazine, with great trees," Ms Silwood said. "I'd always wanted a house with window seats and this had four."
Although January is typically a quiet month in real estate, increased buyer demand and low listing volumes have kept heat in the market.
Barfoot and Thompson auctioneer Murray Smith said that the first auctions of the year had been planned to start this week, but keen buyers making pre-auction offers had pushed 18 auctions forward through the summer break.
55 Stanley Point Road boasts great views of the harbour. Photo / Ted Baghurst
"A lot of people didn't get away. They were in Auckland saying, 'We've got a bit of time, let's look at houses'" Smith said.
"It's a bit like last July when all those developers and people were not going to Europe or China for their winter holidays. So they were around and spending money."
Smith said that at the company's first big auction this morning - eight lots at its Highland Park auction rooms - buyers were out in force.
"There was a big crowd; some properties went well over reserve. But there were a couple where owner expectations were well above market with no good reason.
27 Norm Pellow Drive, in Maurewa East, Auckland, sold for $1.238 million. Photo / Supplied
"Then there was one with a pre-auction offer of $1.1 million that went to $1.238 million. I could see the emotion on the face of the vendors - that $138,000 over what they thought, it's like winning Lotto, it's life changing."
The three-bedroom brick home at 27 Norm Pellow Drive, in Manurewa East, was listed on January 7 by agents Daphne Taylor and Alan Rayner and fetched almost $400,000 above its 2017 rating valuation.
The New Zealand Herald reported on Saturday that a three-bedroom townhouse at 12/33 School Road, in Kingsland, sold under the hammer for $970,000 after a pre-auction offer brought the sale forward.
The buyers, Auckland couple Elaine Chen and Patrick Gibbs, told the Herald that they had been trying to buy a new home since May last year and had many disappointments.
Patrick Gibbs and Elaine Chen outside their new home in Kingsland, Auckland. Photo / Hayden Woodward
"We're surprised, [given] all the other experiences we've had. There's always someone else … it's been the full rollercoaster."
The listing agent, Ray White Kingsland director Tim Hawes, said his open homes had been crowded. "We simply don't have enough supply of the properties that people want."
