No reserve attracts bargain hunters

Home buyers scenting a bargain have been turning up in droves to sniff around a home unit in the heart of Whangarei to be auctioned with no reserve next month.

The two-bedroom, one bathroom 60sq m unit down a right of way off Kamo Rd in the Regent has an advertised land value of $52,000 and capital value of $132,000. It is part of a complex of about seven units built in the 1960s and subsequently subdivided into unit titles. The unit for auction has been reclad with brick facade and its roof is iron.

Auction advertising points out the unit is close to the centre of the CBD, within walking distance of supermarkets, parks and the Kensington medical centre.

LJ Hooker Whangarei chief executive Paul Beazley said Whangarei District Court had ordered the unit to be sold to the highest bidder at his company's auction room at 11 James St on August 1.

He declined to discuss the court order, other than to say LJ Hooker was selling the property on behalf of the owner and he understood everyone with a financial connection to the unit was informed about its disposal.

Auctions without reserves were unusual, Mr Beazley said. The last one he recalled was a competitor selling a Tutukaka home. "They do happen now and then," he said. "There have been a big number of people going through [the Kamo Rd unit] and we are expecting a lot more before the auction."

Real Estate Institute figures show 75 houses with a median sales price of $283,000 were sold in Whangarei last month and compared with 83 for $255,000 in May.