Bidding on the three-bedroom, one-bathroom home on Estuary Rd opened at $250,000 and quickly gathered pace, with the hammer coming down seven minutes and 29 bids later at $368,000, OneRoof reported.
Seven buyers had registered to bid at the Bayleys auction, five of whom put their hands up in the room.
On the surface, it was an odd home to be fighting over.
The listing on OneRoof described the property as “not for the faint-hearted” and warned buyers would need hard hats to view it.
The owner, who vacated the house at least 15 years ago, was living in a retirement village and, according to Archibald, was selling the property “as is, where is” to release some funds.
All interested buyers intended to either demolish or completely rebuild, as the house was beyond a simple flip, Archibald told OneRoof.
Bidding during the auction was strong, but there was an extra dollop of drama when a third buyer appeared from nowhere and knocked out two lead bidders.
“It sort of dismayed the two other bidders,” Archibald said.
“They were the last man and woman standing and they were just trying to knock each other off the perch ... and then they just got gazumped by this last bid.”
Archibald told OneRoof the sale price far exceeded his expectations and he put this down to people wanting entry-level opportunities in the area.
“There was obviously going to be quite a lot of hard work involved in clearing the site.”
New Brighton is still seen as an affordable entry-level coastal suburb for first-home buyers or developers.
“It’s an area of Christchurch that hasn’t really taken off yet,” Archibald said.
“Your land value is still quite affordable.”
