Mayor Len Brown joins house-hunting fray after selling five-bedroom South Auckland home

The Browns' Totara Park house.

First Mayor Len Brown left his town hall office for a new one in an Albert St high-rise tower - now he's sold his house and is hunting for another in the city's pressure-cooker housing market.

Mr Brown and his wife, Shan Inglis, have sold their big South Auckland house on its sprawling site and he released a statement saying they are now looking for a new place.

The Tiffany Close place is listed on QV as having five bedrooms and four bathrooms and went for an undisclosed sum.

"We have reached agreement to sell our home in Totara Park. Shan, the family and I are now looking forward to the challenge of choosing our new home," Mr Brown said.

The house was listed as being owned by Leonard Brown and Shirley Inglis.

The red brick house on a bush-covered 6970sq m site hit the market late last year but Mr Brown and Ms Inglis bypassed the popular auction system, instead marketing it at a set asking price of $1.75 million.

Towards the end of the year, a conditional offer was reported to have been made on the 20-year-old chalet-style home.

Several photos appeared in the marketing of the brick-and-tile profile of the multistorey home, its contoured landscaped backyard, in-ground swimming pool and tracks through lush bush. The house featured on several websites including Trade Me and realestate.co.nz and in local property publications.