Auction fails to find buyer for top floor Tutukaka penthouse

The top-floor penthouse on the southern end of the Oceans Resort complex at Tutukaka failed to attract a single bid when it was put up for auction at Barfoot & Thompson in Whangarei this week - despite it being advertised as a "fire sale".

The owners, who want to sell so they can return to the UK, bought the property off the plans in 2005, paying $650,000. The current GV is $680,000.

Auctioneer David Roy said there had been considerable interest from Northland and Auckland residents and that if he lived there he "would feel like he was on holiday all the time".

"There should be a sea of hands," he told the audience of about 12 silent people.

Oceans Resort is a mix of privately-owned apartments and the Oceans Resort operation, comprising a restaurant, bar, conference rooms and hotel studio rooms. The complex cost $20million to build in 2004 and 2005 and was plagued by cost overruns and financial crises from the start. The developers went into liquidation soon after selling to Australian-owned Tutukaka Holdings Ltd, but the new owner went into receivership in 2008.

Ngatiwai Tourism Holdings bought the property in a mortgagee sale in 2009. The sale price was believed to be around $5million, a quarter of what it had cost to build.

The privately-owned apartments were not part of the receivership and mortgagee sale.

The only property to sell out of the seven properties on offer at the auction was 13 Te Tapui Rd at Matauri Bay, a mortgagee sale on behalf of the Home Mortgage Company.

Mr Roy freely admitted the house was a "doer-upper" but extolled the outstanding views and proximity to Matauri Bay. Bidding started at $80,000 and was conducted by phone and from the floor. Twenty-nine bids later the property went for $179,000.

There were two in the game at the end, with the one who blinked first saying to the salesperson relaying phone bids, "It was a good battle. He can have it."