House bargains still to be found
Year’s lowest home sales in provinces and bijou Auckland apartments
Amodest two-bedroomed house in Southland can lay claim to being the cheapest property sale of 2015 — changing hands for the bargain basement price of just $12,000.
The 1960s, 80sq m Birchwood Rd, Ohai property sits on a generous quarter-acre section and sold in March for 20 per cent above its then $10,000 CV.
A four-bedroom Hope St property in nearby Mataura, which took out second place after fetching just $15,000 in June, was also the nation’s cheapest house in 2013 when it sold for just $14,000.
Figures provided exclusively to the Herald by data analysis company CoreLogic reveal the nation’s 10 cheapest property sales of 2015. Their combined worth was a mere $231,000 — barely enough to afford an entry-level shoebox apartment in Auckland.
In contrast, the 10 priciest sales of the year were all in the City of Sails and had a combined value of more than $100 million — enough buying power to purchase the 10 cheapest properties 458 times.
This year’s cheapest homes were predominantly in Southland, which accounted for five of the top seven spots, and provincial parts of the central North Island.
Ohai took out first and third place, with an 80sq m two-bedroom house in Donnington St selling in May for $20,000 — nearly half its then CV.
Ruapehu District, Murupara, Tokoroa and Taumarunui were also good places to pick up real estate bargains.
Property Brokers agent Tharaen Fearon sold a two-bedroom 90sq m Taitua St house in Taumarunui for $29,000 in November — $16,000 below CV — the eighth cheapest house sale of the year.
Built in the 1920s, the property was badly run down, with marketing photos revealing ripped carpet, stained walls, peeling wallpaper and tired fixtures.
“This two-bedroom property is really a simple, straightforward DIY project for the serious opportunist,” the online listing read.
“When all the hard work is done it will be a beautiful cottage that will appeal to the masses.”
Mrs Fearon told the Herald the property needed a complete revamp.
The buyer planned to renovate the house and move in.
Properties in the area were selling for about 20 to 30 per cent below CV.
“It’s just provincial New Zealand,” Mrs Fearon said.
“There’s no major job opportunities. There’s nothing here so people just take what they can get for their houses.”
And though homes in provincial parts of the country were selling dirt cheap, there were still some bargains to be had amid Auckland’s red-hot property market.
A one-bedroom, one-bathroom 34sq m central city apartment in St Paul St sold in February for just $45,000.
A one-bedroom Gulf Harbour flat in Harbour Village Drive sold for $85,000 in February — $15,000 below CV. And the cheapest Auckland house sale of 2015 was $210,000 for a three-bedroom Redcrest Ave property in Red Hill, Papakura.
The property has a CV of $220,000 and is currently available to rent for $400 a week.
There’s nothing here [in provincial NZ] so people just take what they can get for their houses.
Tharaen Fearon, real estate agent