High-end properties selling after slowdown

Big spenders have raced back into the Tauranga residential property market, buying a bunch of million-dollar homes.
Over the past month, 12 sales in the high-priced end of the market have been written up by Tauranga's two leading real estate firms - and three of the sale and purchase agreements are above the $2 million market.
Two of them are beachfront properties on the Marine Parade "golden mile" at Mount Maunganui, and the other is an architecturally-designed, luxury apartment in Harbour Drive, Bureta.
A modern, contemporary beach house at 66 Marine Parade attracted the highest price of $3.5 million.
The two-level, three-bedroom home next to Te Ngaio Reserve is one of five luxury beach houses built on the 1654 sq m property by English publisher and developer, Pat Barnard.
They replaced one of Marine Parade's most distinctive homes, the art deco dubbed "the White House", previously owned by Sebel Trinity Wharf Hotel developers, Geoff and Shelley Payne.
Mr Barnard, who published magazines about brave World War  II fighter pilots, lives in Bath and spends several months of the summer at the Mount, at one of his other properties further down Marine Parade.
In other latest sales, a big home with a big harbour view sold for $1.6 million in Maungatapu, a record price for that part of the city.
Bayleys and Eves negotiated 
$7 million contracts during September, three of them were conditional, and Harcourts Advantage Realty wrote five deals, including four conditional.
It was the biggest flurry of activity in the higher-priced bracket for two years.
"The higher end of the market has been waiting to happen," said Gil Beadle, spokesman for Bayleys and Eve.
"We've had buyers in a position to do something but they weren't moving.
"There's a bit more confidence around in the economy and they have been waiting for signals. Whether the confidence is sustained, who knows ... but they decided to move in case they missed out," said Mr Beadle.
"Prices are not inflated and deals are being put together."
Over the past 12-18 months, about 80 per cent of the sales activity in Tauranga city occurred in the $400,000 and under price bracket. And the upper end of the market remained dead - till now.
"Nobody is saying we are going into a boom market but trading is very steady," said Mr Beadle.
Max Martin, local Harcourts owner, said the market was looking positive - "it will be interesting to see the sales volume when the figures come out for September".
He said his firm had also written up several contracts in the $800,000 to $900,000 range.
Harcourts has taken over marketing the new Eleven twin-towers apartment complex at the start of Maunganui Rd, and had a list of 55 interested buyers.
"We are getting strong inquiries for the apartments, from as far as England," Mr Martin said.
He said "the stand-out" suburbs for the latest sales activity were Papamoa and Otumoetai/Matua.
"In Papamoa prices have fallen to realistic levels that have stimulated the market - and Otumoetai/Matua is handy to the city centre."
Harcourts auctioned a two-level, plaster house at 81 Marine Parade on Thursday for just over $2 million.
With plenty of interested people looking on, the bidding slowed at $1.89 million and after further negotiations there was an amended bid of $2.5 million, and the beachfront property finally sold for $2.09 million.
Harcourt's  $4 million conditional sales involved two lifestyle blocks and two apartments.
Eves and Bayleys signed up two lifestyle properties at Te Puna for $1.6 million and $1.325 million respectively, an Avenues home for $1.76 million, a modern house in Bethlehem for $1.12 million and the Harbour Drive apartment - that had been on the market some time - for $2.1 million.
Three of the five beach houses at 66 Marine Parade are now sold.
One of them at the back of the property close to Te Ngaio Rd is on the market for $1.85 million, and the other in the front facing the beach has a price tag of $3.75 million.