The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country / Rural Property

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

Ben Leahy
By Ben Leahy
Reporter·NZ Herald·
16 Oct, 2020 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

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

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
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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

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
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
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.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rural Property

The Country

NZ's most photographed hotel up for sale

03 Jul 08:15 PM
Premium
The Country

Inside the new luxury eatery blending Central Otago's history and cuisine

27 Jun 11:00 PM
The Country

'Under pressure': NZ farms face succession challenges

24 Jun 11:15 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rural Property

NZ's most photographed hotel up for sale

NZ's most photographed hotel up for sale

03 Jul 08:15 PM

One of the owners, Cade Thornton, asked that offers to buy the hotel go directly to him.

Premium
Inside the new luxury eatery blending Central Otago's history and cuisine

Inside the new luxury eatery blending Central Otago's history and cuisine

27 Jun 11:00 PM
'Under pressure': NZ farms face succession challenges

'Under pressure': NZ farms face succession challenges

24 Jun 11:15 PM
‘Fantastic’: Interest in sheep and beef properties on the rise

‘Fantastic’: Interest in sheep and beef properties on the rise

19 Jun 01:56 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP