Developer to knock down $2.4m home

A developer has paid $2.41 million for a five-bedroom family home in Epsom, with plans to knock it down and build two new townhouses.

The real estate agency that sold 11 Kipling Ave says the price is unheard of for a piece of land its size which was not being purchased for the house sitting on it.

The property went for more than double its valuation of $1.18 million.

The auction attracted a room full of developers and 62 bids by six groups, Harcourts Eden-Epsom director James Marshall said.

Interest was so high that the auction was brought forward a week after a pre-auction offer of $1.5 million was made.

That price point became the reserve, but bidding quickly escalated to $2.41 million.

The winning bidder, a Chinese developer, plans to subdivide the section and build two standalone townhouses to sell.

The home was unable to be moved in one piece because of its brick foundations and weatherboard walls so would have to be knocked down, Mr Marshall said.

The 1950s weatherboard house, sitting on a 984sq m section, was last sold to a family in 1983 for $139,000 when it had a valuation of $79,500.

The couple's children have grown up and left home so they are downsizing.

Mr Marshall calculated the sale price at $2450 a square metre.

"It's an exemplary result for something that's not even a quarter-acre section.

"We are constantly amazed when records continue to get broken, but this one eclipses anything we've seen.

"We do this every day, but this particular property went well past our and the vendor's expectations."

He said that based on comparable properties and the pre-auction offer, the couple valued their home at $1.5 million.

"Epsom really has become the country's largest Asian community," Mr Marshall said.

"We used to talk about Howick being the old Asian community, now it's Epsom."

11 Kipling Ave, Epsom

1950s weatherboard, five bedrooms, 1 bathroom

Sold: $2.41 million

CV: $1.18 million

Last sale: 1983, $139,000

- Alanah Eriksen of the NZ Herald