Case study 2: $380,000 buys a foot on the property ladder

The new owners, an English couple with two young boys, paid $385,000 this month for the sunny house with a modern kitchen and two bathrooms on a cross-leased section.

Sure, it's across a busy road from a pub, but the owners, who did not want to be named, were happy to be on the housing ladder six weeks after arriving from Singapore.

They fell in love with Auckland's old villas, but character suburbs like Devonport, Epsom and Mt Eden were out of reach. At six of the eight auctions they attended, Asian buyers secured the homes by confidently bidding in $10,000 and $20,000 lots.

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