'Rare' houseplant sells on Trade Me for nearly $7000

The philodendron erubescens is the second most expensive houseplant to be sold on Trade Me. Photo / Supplied

A sought-after houseplant has sold on Trade Me for a whopping $6700, making it the second most expensive indoor plant to be sold on the site.

The philodendron erubescens plant was listed for just $1 reserve, but the seller found themselves thousands of dollars richer after two would-be buyers went head to head in a last-minute bidding war.

Also known as "white princess", the plant was described by the seller as "super rare". The auction closed last night with a total of 235 bids.

"The most expensive houseplant ever sold on Trade Me was a variegated minima which sold for $8150 last month, beating the previous record-holder by $1650," said Trade Me spokeswoman Ruby Topzand.

"The record was previously held by a reverse variegated hoya that sold for $6500 in August."

The third most expensive houseplant purchased onsite was a variegated monstera which sold for $4930 in January.

"Since 2015, indoor plant sales have grown by 2543 per cent onsite as more and more Kiwis look to bring greenery into their homes," Topzand said.

"Even in the last year alone, we've seen a 213 per cent jump in the number of indoor plants sold onsite.

"Hoyas are the most popular houseplants onsite right now, seeing over 65,000 searches in the past week. The next most popular houseplants are monsteras, succulents, and snake plants."

Stunned plant enthusiasts have shared news of the sale on indoor plant Facebook pages.

"One hundred per cent would buy that if I had a spare $7k. Without a bat of an eyelid even," said one commenter.

Others said the plant prices were "crazy" and that it was "stupid money".