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A luxury Waiheke Island property put up for mortgagee tender has sold for nearly $3 million over its present valuation.
The three-bedroom house on 12ha of secluded land at Matiatia was valued at $4.2m but bought by a Melbourne-based Kiwi for $7m.
The two-bathroom, architecturally designed "bach" is set in a large tract of sweeping lawn, featuring "numerous private coves interspersed with dramatic cliffs", according to the listing.
It is among several multimillion-dollar properties put up for mortgagee sale in recent weeks as the real estate slump hits even wealthy homeowners.
The number of mortgagee listings is rising across the board, but the Matiatia sale proves that what is usually seen as a last resort doesn't have to be a disaster.
Deborah Kelland, principal of Kellands Real Estate which handled the sale, said mortgagee auctions and tenders were often buried in "little black and white ads in the back pages of the paper".
"These sales should be treated as any other premium property and given the same kidglove exposure. There is no reason why you shouldn't achieve a very good price."
Kelland said people still expected bargains from mortgagee sales and that could work in a vendor's favour.
"People do see it as an opportunity. We are getting four times the number of inquiries from people we would normally get because of that greed. You can maximise those opportunities."
She said the perceived value of houses was "property specific, not suburb specific" and it was not unusual for exceptional properties like Matiatia to sell for way beyond their valuation.
"Top-end properties may go for 120 per cent more than their CV - others for 20 per cent below. It's all over the place but there's certainly been a slowdown in sales."
Kelland would not comment on the vendor or new owner for confidentiality reasons.
