Grey Lynn villa sale price slashed $50,000: character home discounted to spark buyers

A large fully renovated character Grey Lynn villa advertised since February has had its sale price cut by $50,000, below the Auckland Council valuation.

An agent is advertising 53 Williamson Ave as "price reduced" at $1,725,000, indicating it was originally listed for around $1.77m but an auction and around 70 viewers failed to draw buyers.

"Motivated vendor wants action," said Bayleys' Andre Bodde, adding that the place was just minutes to Ponsonby Rd, had the potential to add value in the future and was "gorgeous".

"It's not unusual these days," Bodde said. "We've seen some properties where there's a gap between the vendor expectations and the market."

The property has a garage, off-street parking, character features, north-facing deck, open plan living with a private fully fenced back yard, he says.

His OneRoof property ad for the place with a 427sq m section is dated February 26, indicating it has been listed for two months without any buyers.

A lawyer who is a trustee of the company which owns the place said he had no instructions to talk about it but it was not unusual for Auckland homes to be advertised at reduced prices these days.

Auckland Council's valuation records show the place is worth $1.85m - $125,000 above the sale price. That $1.85m is being used to charge annual rates of $4221.

Bodde said the council CV was "just a tool that the council use. Other sales in our office has seen $100,000 to $200,000 below the CV."

Bodde said two offers had been made on the place which passed in at auction, but neither had completed. Advertising as price-reduced drew around 15 people to the place on the weekend "and usually it would be three to six."

Bodde said: "The market has changed somewhat. There's been a lot of interest in this place but we've found people either can't get the finance or they're not cashed-up and ready to buy," he said.

His advertising describes the property as "a no-brainer, an amazing opportunity to buy an enchanting family home in the heart of Grey Lynn. This four bedroom character villa with white picket fence is beautifully presented and utterly liveable as is, yet it has plenty of potential to develop and add value down the track."

Real estate data shows Auckland has been a buyers' market for the last two years, with only marginal price increases and unsold property stocks rising at agencies.

Barfoot & Thompson, which sells around 40 per cent of Auckland residential stock, has seen inventory levels rise from 2802 unsold properties in mid-2015 to 4865 unsold places by last month.

The Real Estate Institute noted how Auckland house sale prices fell $20,000 between the end of December and the end of January, down 2.4 per cent from a median $820,000 to $800,000 - the lowest numbers for 35 months.

Bodde said Williamson Ave places usually sold for $1.5m to $2m mark.

He hopes to sell 53 Williamson Ave this week "fingers crossed."