Unit 7 in the Lake Wanaka Alpine Village Resort is managed by Clarion Suites and the downstairs rooms can be locked off and rented as two units.
The apartment is valued for rating purposes at $590,000.
The sale included $45,000 worth of furniture.
The vendor, Moscow Residential Ltd, did not set a reserve on the auction because a sale was required.
Despite jokes from up to 70 people who attended the sale, bidding did not start at $1 (although Harcourts auctioneer Jeff Kerr said he would accept it).
Bidding started at $300,000.
There were four bidders and the price rose very slowly with Mr Kerr working hard to push bids over $400,000.
A similar unit in the same complex, Unit 15, was passed in at $480,000 in a mortgagee auction two weeks ago.
Three offers for that unit are now before the bank awaiting consideration.
That unit is valued for rating purposes at $620,000.
Unit 7 was purchased by a Wanaka couple, a man and a woman, who declined to be named.
"It is a bargain at that price. People paid a lot more than that when they bought here. I think it is a sign of the times," the woman said.
Harcourts agent Stephen Hughes said in a pre-auction media release putting no reserve price on the auction was an effort to make the apartment "stand out from the crowd".
The real estate market was slowing down and buyers were hesitant, Mr Hughes said.
