Family cottage fetches a cool $3m

A three-bedroom, one-bathroom Queenstown cottage believed to date back to the 1880s has been sold at auction for $3 million.

The cottage, which had been in the same family for 75 years, sits on 986 square metres, less than half a block from the lakeside. It has been used by the family as a holiday home.

Listing agent Simon Hayes of Harcourts said the property generated a lot of interest, but it was all about the land, not the house. Under the current district plan, the site can take up to three houses.

‘‘We have to give an appraisal to our vendors as to where we think it might go (price-wise), and we had some indication it was going to be up there,’’ the agent says. ‘‘That’s why we recommended they take it to auction and let the market decide.

‘‘Also, it wasn’t the ‘average’ house in the street. It was a bit different to the others around it, so it was harder to compare.’’

Hayes says although there were many potential buyers at the auction on July 12, the high price meant there were just three active bidders, with two battling it out to secure the property.

‘‘I suspect the new owner will be taking a considered view and not rushing into anything. In situations like this, some people might buy it for a future development for their own use, while others may buy to land bank. It’s a very good investment, purely because of where it is.’’

Hayes says land banking is not particularly prevalent in Queenstown. ‘‘But the town has had pretty solid growth over the 35 years I have been here. If you are going to invest money in an asset, then this has proved a good place to do that.’’

The CV for the cottage is $2.63m.

In January this year, the asking price of homes in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago region was the highest in the country, according to new statistics.

Realestate.co.nz reported the area knocked Auckland off the top spot in December with an average asking price of $984,719. But in June this year, the average asking price was $901,539, with Auckland’s average asking price down to $931,339.

PHOTOS: QUEENSTOWN MEDIA Listing agency Harcourts said the property was different to others in the street, which made comparisons difficult. This Queenstown cottage, believed to date back to the 1880s, was sold at auction last week for $3 million. The 986 square-metre property...