Western News: October 19, 2023

4
Thursday October 19 2023
Festival
of flowers
returns
WIGRAM LIONS Club and
primary schools are getting creative
again with the return of the 6th
annual Festival of Flowers.
The festival, which will be held at
South Hornby School on October
28 from 10am to 3pm, is a display
of arts and crafts with plants and
flowers.
“About a thousand year 1 to year 8
students from Gilberthorpe Primary,
St Bernadettes Primary, Hornby
Primary, South Hornby Primary
and Hornby High School have had
the opportunity to take part,” said
organiser Syd Horgan.
The students have worked on their
entries since March, in 14 sections
ranging from everlasting sand saucers
to students’ photos of flowers
and gardens.
The funds raised from the Festival
of Flowers will support children
attending Camp Quality at Living
Springs in January 2024.
“Camp Quality brings fun, hope
and happiness into the lives of
children living with cancer, inspiring
them to get on with being kids
again,” said Horgan.
Hamper tickets will be sold for $2
and the winners will be drawn at
2.30pm. Entry on the day is a gold
coin donation.
To find out more, contact Syd
Horgan at syd.fran.horgan@xtra.
co.nz
Homes sold at auction more
likely to sell for record prices
PLEASANTLY SURPRISED: Both the modern Merivale home (left) and the Avonhead property sold for $200,000-plus
more than the vendors initially expected.
• From page 1
Said Ellis: “It just enables them
to make some other decision
and opens up their next move
considerably. It was fabulous.”
There were three registered
bidders, but only two were active.
“They were very motivated to
get something.”
She said the property attracted
locals looking for a contemporary
base in Merivale with its
striking exterior of a black and
cedar finish.
Ellis, who had sold the Aikmans
Rd property four years
ago to the vendors, said they had
improved an already exceptional
home by adding an outdoor
louvre system and the gardens
had also been established in that
time.
In the past few months, there
has been a rise in the number of
auctions brought forward, but
Ellis said few had sold for that
much more than the reserve.
It didn’t always come down to
how many bidders there were,
she said, but more their level of
motivation and how much they
wanted the property.
Ellis said they now needed to
find a similar property for the
underbidders who missed out.
The other auction brought
forward for a family home on
Abingdon Court in Avonhead
opened and was announced on
the market at $948,500.
But with nine registered bidders
and three buyers battling it
out until the end, it finally sold
for $1.165m.
Harcourts Grenadier salesperson
Andrew Steele said the
vendor was in Croatia at the
time and had been asleep while
the auction was on, so had been
“absolutely ecstatic” when he
woke up to the good news.
“He was very surprised, and
pleasantly surprised at the extra
amount achieved.”
Steele said there was a lot of
demand for the home, mainly
from families looking to upsize
and to get into the school zones.
“The property had potential to
add value to it and I just think
that price point in that market
there seems to be a bit of heat
on.”
Steele believed taking it to
auction helped achieve an
“exceptional result” and he did
not think they would have got
the same price using another
method of sale.
“I always say if you are going
to get a record price, it’s the auction
process that will achieve it,
and that was a classic example of
that happening.”
– NZ Herald
HORNBY