Modest Auckland home sells for $2.4m - and it wasn't bought by a developer

A modest Point Chevalier home has sold for $2.4m - close to $900,000 above its council valuation. Photo / Supplied

Skyrocketing house prices have helped a humble Auckland home to sell for a whopping $2.4 million - and no, it wasn't a developer laying down the cash.

The Pt Chevalier home at 92 Kiwi Rd - which sold at auction this week for close to $900,000 above its council valuation - hasn't been renovated since 1986 and sits on a large 653sq m block.

That would have appeared at first glance to make it an obvious target for developers.

Despite sitting on a large block, developers were priced out of buying the home by keen local families. Photo / Supplied

Developers have been paying big money in recent months to demolish older homes on sections big enough for apartments and townhouses.

But on this occasion a local family trumped 15 other registered bidders to snap up the four-bedroom home.

"There wasn't a single developer interested in that property," said Derek von Sturmer from Professionals real estate.

Auckland's property market is on the boil. Median house price hit a record $955,000 in September, the latest Real Estate Institute data shows.

Record low interest rates have helped spur the activity.

It's a boom that has caught nearly all by surprise, including the Reserve Bank, which in April removed restrictions on how much money banks can lend to home owners. Von Sturmer said that while developers, first-home buyers and investors had all been helping push up the prices, the Pt Chevalier sale was a sign "movers" were also buying again.

The Point Chevalier home has good foundations and layout but it's new owners will likely still need to freshen it up despite paying $2.4m for it. Photo / Supplied

He said that if he had another 30 bungalows like the Kiwi Rd property, he'd be able to sell them in a week to movers - people who already owned a family home but wanted to trade it for a smaller or bigger place.

"A lot of the people paying bigger prices for Pt Chevalier properties are already living locally," von Sturmer said.

"Because they love the area more than anyone else and with such low interest rates, they are looking for their next perfect home."

Von Sturmer said developers wouldn't be willing to pay $2.4m for a 650sq m block and were instead chasing better opportunities elsewhere in the suburb.

A modest Point Chevalier home has sold for $2.4m - close to $900,000 above its council valuation. Photo / Supplied

They had also now often become scared of going to auction because of the high prices being paid and were instead trying to approach home owners directly to make off-market offers, he said.

Von Sturmer advised anyone approached by a developer privately to get expert advice and test the market.

"The majority of people haven't caught on to the fact of how much property has gone up in the past six months and how much their home could be worth," he said.