The Bower Ave property, alongside Waimairi Beach Golf Club in Parklands, was marketed as being in “as is, where is” condition.
Bayleys listing agent Shaun Creek told oneroof.co.nz a family member had been looking after the property as best he could since the owners departed for Japan 14 years ago.
He said the four-bedroom house would have been amazing when it was first built in the 1970s, but had lost its shine.
The decor was dated, the in-ground swimming pool was littered with branches and leaves and the quakes had caused structural damage.
But that didn’t put off the nine bidders – a mixture of developers and renovators, OneRoof reported.
A couple who plan to renovate the house made the winning bid, beating a developer in the final minutes of the auction.
Creek said the new owners had ambitions to live in the house.
“They have plans to restore the home, which is pretty cool. It should be quite stunning to watch that progress. The underbidder was looking at it more as a development opportunity,” he told OneRoof.
Creek said the vendors had wanted to get fair market value for the house and that’s exactly what they got.
“We had no idea it was going to sell for that much and neither did the owners, but clearly for these guys, it was at value at that level.”
“It’s always been a home that’s captured people’s attention. There are some good sales in the suburb but nothing comparable to this when it comes to land size.”
Most homes in Parklands are on sections of around 600sq m and usually sell for between $800,000 and $1 million.
The Bower Ave house is on a 2000sq m section bordering the golf course.
“This was one out of the box, which was exciting. It was a really interesting one. The owners needed it sold, it was going to be sold,” Creek told OneRoof.
