Mt Albert house fetches $400k above valuation

Agents say renters wanting to buy and a growing population have created fresh demand for desirable homes such as 25 Monaghan Ave in Mt Albert.

A Mt Albert house has fetched $416,000 above its valuation, further evidence of the Auckland's hot June property market.

The three-double bedroom bungalow at 25 Monaghan Ave, off Martin Ave between Carrington Rd and New North Rd, had an Auckland council valuation of $670,000 but sold at auction for 62 per cent above that at $1,086,000.

That deal follows another this week at 42 Rautara St in Orakei, bought a year ago for $590,000 and sold for $846,000 by Juliet Blair who is going away and didn't want to rent the house out.

In the Mt Albert case, Greg Whitta of Anne Duncan Real Estate said the house was on the market only 23 days, 100 parties inspected it, six bidders registered and it sold under the hammer. Its reserve was set in the $900,000 bracket.

The house is zoned for popular schools Gladstone Primary and Mt Albert Grammar, which are higher decile than others in the wider area, Mr Whitta said.

It is also near the train line, not far from Westfield St Lukes, a few blocks from the Northwestern Motorway and near the mountain, where dogs can be walked off the leash, he said.

Mt Albert Rd and Richardson Rd would also carry less traffic once the new Western Ring Route's Waterview connection was completed, so that made the region popular.

"It seems to be more frantic in central Auckland and not so frantic further out but the ripple effect will spread from these popular inner areas to the outside. People won't be able to afford to get into the city."

Barfoot & Thompson, selling one in every three Auckland houses, said its average sale price was at an all-time high of $589,251 last month. The agency sold 994 properties, the highest in June for five years.

Wendy Alexander, Barfoot's chief executive, said it was unusual for houses to fetch above capital value.

"While the market is active and prices are at an all-time high, properties that are selling way in excess of CV remain the exception.

"For most properties, prices are edging up and the average sales price in June was 3.2 per cent above the average price in March, which is a modest increase over the three months given the tight supply of properties," she said.

The number of new listings was now in line with normal trading patterns over the past few years but the number of buyers had increased substantially, creating a demand that wasn't there 12 to 18 months ago.

That rise was coming from more people wanting to buy after they had rented and growth in Auckland's population, she said.