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This 87-hectare block in Wellsford could be developed to accommodate over 100 houses.
Two Warkworth properties zoned for future urban development have each sold for more than $7 million as developers look to cash in on growth in the area.
Barfoot & Thompson Warkworth sales manager Saull Hinton says both properties were sold to Chinese investors who plan to land bank the properties.
A 46-hectare property to the south of Warkworth, opposite Valerie Close, sold for $7.7 million in July. Zoned future urban in Auckland’s Proposed Unitary Plan, it could be developed by 2027 under Council’s draft development strategy. The property has a house and a horse arena, and was marketed as a land banking opportunity.
“It’s future now is to provide hundreds of families a place to call their own and provide massive rewards for those who dare to develop their homes for them,” the customer report said.
Another 48ha property on Thompson Road, near Parry Kauri Park, sold for $8 million in July.
The site was marketed with the potential for 600 residential sites, with 41ha in the future urban zone.
Mr Hinton says there has been a lot of interest from buyers based in China.
“One of the buyers is already looking at other sites in the area.”
The prices reflect the rising prices in Warkworth as the housing shortage in Auckland pushes buyers further afield, he says.
“You can’t buy a section now for $300,000 whereas three years ago you would have been laughed out of town for that price.”
Meanwhile, an 87-hectare block in Wellsford earmarked for future development is still on the market after going to tender in August.
The land is zoned for a mix of lifestyle blocks and residential housing. Just over 40ha is currently zoned countryside living and can be divided into 2ha blocks immediately. A further 34 hectares has been earmarked for countryside living in the Proposed Unitary Plan. It also has half a hectare zoned as residential, which can be developed immediately. A further 7.8ha has been zoned as future urban in the Proposed Unitary Plan.
The land borders School and Worker Roads, and is operating as a grazing farm. It has been in the same family since 1929 and improvements include three three-bedroomed houses.
Bayleys Warkworth salesperson John Barnett expects the property to sell for over $3.5 million.
