Humble home fetches $2.4m above CV
An Auckland home has sold for $8 million, well above its council valuation and defying expectations of a housing market downturn in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It comes as a series of modest homes have been selling well above council valuations in the past week, even as job losses start to increase.
The home at 147A Arney Rd is not the typical Remuera mansion with swimming pool, tennis court and a nanny’s quarters.
Instead, it boasts just three bedrooms and is a humble, singlestorey 1960s home and has a council valuation of $5.6m — $2.4m below its sale price at auction on Wednesday.
What it does have, however, is a beautiful view over Hobson Bay towards Rangitoto Island and 1489sq m of land offering buyers potential to build their own mansion.
“Designed to capitalise on the view, the home has great bones, but is ripe for refurbishment,” the home’s
OneRoof advertisement states.
Auckland’s housing market has so far defied the mounting economic gloom. While total house sales were down in April almost 70 per cent compared to the same month last year, Auckland’s median sale price remarkably hit $925,000.
That was the second-highest price on record, the Real Estate Institute said.
The Auckland Council is understood to have resolved to abandon a $16.9 million mooring attachment to Queens Wharf which would have let big cruise ships dock.
The decision was made at a confidential “emergency budget” meeting, as 20 councillors made calls on which major projects they would slash to cover a $550 million shortfall in revenue created by Covid-19. The Herald was told by a source that the proposal to add a 90-metre extension to Queens Wharf had been sunk for good. With the cruise industry pounded by Covid-19, it could be some time before big tourist ships again visit the city.
The Auckland Council would not confirm whether the project had been scrapped.
A council spokesperson said the project was discussed by councillors in confidence because the matter was before the Environment Court.
The design, called a dolphin, had been controversial since its conception in 2017. Its costs rose and it faced delays. .
The project was meant to be finished by late 2020 as one of six works in Auckland Transport’s plan to transform the waterfront for the America’s Cup.
However, the consent was challenged by Nga¯ti Wha¯tua and urban design organisations who opposed its incursion into Waitemata¯ Harbour.
Lobby group Urban Auckland president Julie Stout said yesterday: “I’m delighted, finally. It was very obvious virtually all parties did not want the dolphin.
“We took the case to the Environment Court and part of that was a mediation process at which point we managed to get a deferment,” she said.
The Ports of Auckland declined to comment until the council had made a statement. .
While cruise ships are not expected back in Auckland any time soon with the Covid-19 border closure, the original purpose of the dolphin had been to allow 320m-plus cruise ships, carrying about 4500 tourists each, to dock.
These mega-ships are able to dock at Dunedin, Lyttelton, Picton, Wellington, Napier and Tauranga ports, but not Auckland where they can only anchor in the harbour.
The purpose of the emergency council meeting was to draw up a budget for public consultation, which is a legal requirement.