A Grey Lynn bungalow with a QV of $812,000 has changed hands for $1.83 million, the latest in a growing list of homes selling for well over their official valuation.
The fully restored house on a tiny section at 9 Jessel St, off Richmond Rd, is just a few blocks from Ponsonby Rd and Andre Bodde of Barfoot & Thompson said a huge number of people had visited before the auction.
The owners knew their home would sell way above its QV and had asked for offers over $1.6 million.
"This is a record price for a done-up bungalow in the Grey Lynn or Westmere area," said Mr Bodde, telling how Kerri Hutchinson designed architectural changes including excavating the basement.
"We had 360 groups through in three weekends. I've been in real estate 17 years and that would be a record for myself and my colleagues," said Mr Bodde, who sold it with wife Nikki.
A professional couple from Wellington bought the house on its 392sq m section but the sellers had not yet repurchased, Mr Bodde said, describing an extensive marketing campaign which drummed up huge interest.
"It was in Herald Homes, we took out quarter and half-page Herald ads and emailed the agency's extensive database," he said.
QV records showed 9 Jessel St's vendors bought in March 2010 for just $812,100. At that time, the property's valuation was $750,000 but the do-up cost many hundreds of thousands. QV and Auckland Council list its 2008 value as $870,000. These take no account of the major improvements.
Mr Bodde said his office was keen for more listings and had only 12 to 15 houses on its books "which is not much and we've got three going to auction today. We were just saying that for real estate agents, this would be the most competitive area in New Zealand for getting new listings."
Mr Bodde said a villa at 1 Selbourne St had sold for $1,880,000. QV recorded that property's value at $1,620,000.
This week, Prime Minister John Key said the housing market was set to take off again, particularly in Auckland, as slow planning processes, lack of development finance and internal migration forced up rents and prices.
Mr Key said his personal view for some time had been that the housing market would start to rise again because of those influences, and particularly the collapse of companies that provided development finance.
The Productivity Commission inquiry into housing affordability highlighted Auckland's rising house prices and the many people permanently locked out of the housing market by high prices and fierce competition.