Island style gets cheaper

An aerial view of Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Waiheke Island is becoming more affordable as asking prices for premium properties are slashed to way below their CVs.

Five properties were advertised last week at up to 30 per cent below the Capital Valuation.

Four hectares of bush that have not been chemically sprayed for 30 years had an asking price of $695,000, way down from the $1 million CV.

Barfoot & Thompson agent Howard Gee said the property, which does not include a house and has a bush covenant, would have probably fetched seven figures in late 2006.

But after failing to excite enough interest for an auction, the vendor heavily discounted the price.

"It's a great buy. Where else can you buy four hectares for less than $1m in Auckland?" Gee said.

A two-bedroom bach on 2.3ha with 180 olive trees, was listed with Bayleys at $950,000, 21 per cent below its CV.

A 870 square metre section with sea views had an asking price of $450,000, 18 per cent below its CV.

Auckland property analyst Stephen Hart said such examples probably reflected the number of lifestyle and holiday properties bought on the island in good times.

And, across the country the gap between CVs, asking and sale prices was inevitably closing.

Hart said the general rule in today's market was a vendor had to have a compelling reason to ask for more than CV.