Queenstown sections sell at ‘more realistic price’

Press, 28 January 1986, Page 8

Queenstown sections sell at ‘more realistic price’

Special correspondent Queenstown Land at Kelvin Heights near Queenstown was brought back to a "more realistic price” after sections there were auctioned for between $50,000 and $60,000 at the week-end. One of the auctioneers, Mr Doug Brown, of Queenstown Real Estate, said a new section price had been established at the auction of 16 residential sections in the Lakes County Council’s Balmoral subdivision. Public in-

terest was higher than at recent property auctions in the Wakatipu. About 150 people attended. Ten of the sections sold at auction and a further four sold later after being passed in short of their reserve price. Two remained unsold. The first to go under the hammer was a 766 sq m plot, which took the top price of the day of $72,000. Most sections fetched between $50,000 and $60,000. A prime site of 1008 sq m featuring spectacular views of Lake Wakatipu sold for $56,000.

A neighbouring 1167 sq m section went for $60,500, while some flatter sections fronting Peninsula Road sold between $48,500 and $50,000. Mr Brown and the other auctioneer, Mr lan Faulks, of Perpetual Real Estate, agreed that the prices reached had been “on a par” with some six months ago when sections at Kelvin Heights were last selling well. They would have been perhaps $5OOO down. Nothing had sold in the area for months as things

had become out of proportion, Mr Brown said. The chairman of the Lakes County Council, Mr Tommy Thomson, said the prices were “disappointing” and it was obvious that a “new range of values” was being set. Some “excellent buys” had been at the auction, according to Mr Faulks. Prices were not expected to drop any lower as an established level had now been set. The auction had indicated what the market considered to be a fair

sale value, according to the resident registered valuer in Queenstown, Mr Dave Fea. It would create a more reliable basis on which to establish market value for other Wakatipu residential sections. Much property had been sold in recent years making it easy to establish market values. During the last few months, however, the market had been slower, providing less data from which to make an accurate assessment, Mr Fea said.