Two Auckland state houses deemed "past their useful life" by Housing New Zealand have sold for about $1 million each.
Estate agents say the price tags on the rundown Grey Lynn houses, both on 480sq m sections, reflect what house-hunters are willing to pay for prime land in the sought-after suburb.
In the past year, HNZ has sold 15 properties in the city worth more than $700,000, generating $12.8 million.
A three-bedroom villa at 39 Millais St, which had a council valuation of $840,000, sold for $1,006,000 at auction.
Photographs taken inside show chipped paint on doors and skirting boards, stained carpet, missing windows and kitchen cupboards, exposed pipes and old plumbing fittings and appliances.
The house has one bathroom, a separate toilet and a large west-facing backyard but no garaging.
Another four-bedroom villa nearby, at 30 Dickens St, sold for $995,000, and had a council valuation of $810,000.
Photographs inside show ripped carpet exposing floorboards, stained walls and floors, loose wires hanging from the ceiling and a bathroom hand basin covered in stickers.
A spokeswoman said HNZ sold the houses as part of its policy to get rid of properties worth more than $700,000 so it could reinvest in cheaper housing.
"Both were very old properties, almost 100 years, and ... had passed their useful life.
"With Millais St, there were also significant maintenance issues and this work was simply uneconomic to undertake given the age of the property." The most expensive state property sold in the year to June 30 was a two-bedroom home in Remuera, on 683sq m, which sold in June for $1.3 million, nearly double its valuation.
