Houses fetch top dollar

Karen Walker's home in West Auckland fetched a top price of $775,000. Photo / Martin Sykes

What recession? Two top businesswomen have sold their homes for around $100,000 above their valuations.

Fashion designer Karen Walker's rural West Auckland home sold for $775,000 and the owner of the Servilles hair salon in Ponsonby, Louise Pilkington, sold her and her brother's Herne Bay property for almost $2 million.

The sales topped a big week for Kellands real estate agents Tricia Lafferty and Kym Aikin - the business partners sold $5.3m worth of Auckland property in the past week.

"It's been a great week and it makes you want to come back and do real estate next year," said Lafferty, who has been too busy to celebrate.

She said the sales were in stark contrast to the beginning of the year, which she labelled "tough".

Walker's three-bedroom 1930s Art Deco home, set on 4.8ha of land in Swanson, has a council valuation of $660,000, but two active bidders on Wednesday saw the price reach $775,000.

Lafferty believed it was one of the top prices for comparable properties this year.

The new owners work in the creative industries and are looking forward to "enjoying the peace and privacy of a beautiful rural setting that's close to central Auckland and has inner-city trimmings".

Walker said she thoroughly enjoyed 13 years at the property, and was pleased the new owners would love it as much as her.

Lafferty said Walker wanted to buy a short distance from her Ponsonby office.

This week she and Aikin also sold the Herne Bay home owned by Pilkington and her brother. The house on Saratoga Ave fetched $1.95m - $80,000 above the council valuation.

The other two properties sold by the agents included a leasehold property in Freemans Bay, and a renovated four-bedroom villa in Herne Bay. The prices were being kept confidential.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY