Land for grabs

A large section in a sought-after Auckland spot sold for a fraction of its multi-million-dollar CV at a mortgagee sale this week.

The 8440sq m section on the Epsom-Newmarket border was auctioned by CB Richard Ellis after the owner defaulted on loan repayments.

The auction of 69 Almorah Rd attracted a big crowd on Tuesday morning and bidding was fierce. The winning bid of $2.7 million was far below the CV of just over $4m.

The buyer, a phone bidder, did not want his identity revealed, said agent Stephanie Kelland.

The mortgagor was Abas Epsom Trustees Limited, a company directed by Seyed Mohammad Kazemi Yazdi and held in trust by lawyer Bryan Holland.

The land was mortgaged twice, the first taken out with Boston Finance in 2006 and the second with Public Trust in 2008.

Kazemi Yazdi is a Lynfield businessman and was a Progressive Party candidate at last year's election.

The land is zoned residential 2A, which allows one unit per 1000sq m, but plans for more intensive development had been proposed.

High interest in the Almorah Rd site contrasted with another property auctioned on the same morning - a cliff edge St Heliers section owned by Sensation Yachts Ltd director Ivan Erceg. The property struggled to attract any bids and was passed in at $550,000.

Meanwhile, the owners of two adjoining sites on Waiheke Island have been forced to sell because of the recession.

The owners, a Waiheke family of long standing, have already sold off one block of their once 60ha property near Man-O-War Bay.

"They borrowed some money to start developing the land and have just been victims of the credit crunch combined with property prices coming back," said agent Lisa Hopewell.

It wasn't technically a mortgagee sale, said Hopewell, but financiers had a big interest in the properties.

"The reality for them is the finance company will be making joint decisions with them on the day,"she said.

The sites now being sold are one 27ha section with panoramic views (CV $870,000), with tenders closing on September 28, and an adjoining 5.25ha piece of land with homestead (CV $970,000), to be auctioned on 30 September.