Seaside home fetches anything but a modest price

A modest St Clair bungalow has sold for more than $2 million in what is believed to be a record for the area.

The Cliffs Rd property on the St Clair waterfront was marketed by Edinburgh Realty property consultants James and Amy Columb for the St Clair area’s ‘‘lifestyle’’.

Mr Columb said that the auction sale price was believed to be the biggest for Cliffs Rd, which traditionally had strong sales due to its views.

The price achieved was also understood to be a record for a house of that size, Mr Columb said.

This Cliffs Rd property in St Clair recently sold for more than $2million. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON

The bidding started at $1 million, the reserve was set at $1.7 million, and the house sold for $2,175,000, he said.

Mr Columb was not surprised the seaside home fetched what it did.

‘‘If I was in their [the buyer’s] shoes and could keep going, I suppose that’s what you would do,’’ he said.

‘‘It was a great auction.

‘‘It was a bit of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: there are not many [houses] along the Esplanade that are in original condition, and it does have some architectural merit to it as well.’’

Mr Columb said the previous owner had owned the property since 2001 and did not live in the city, nor did he plan on returning.

The owner’s sister, who had lived at the address, recently moved into a new home.

The buyers were from Central Otago and enjoyed the St Clair lifestyle, he said.

Mr Columb understood the new owners planned to keep the house in its present condition, in the short term at least.

The latest data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, for October shows that Otago had an 11.8% increase in the median house price in the region, from $680,000 in October last year to a record high of $760,000 at present.

Central Otago ($782,000) Clutha ($480,000), Dunedin ($675,000), the Queenstown-Lakes district ($1,355,000) and Waitaki ($472,000) all reached record median prices last month, the institute said.

hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz