Lorde pays $2.84m for her city villa
All it takes for young people to get a foot on the Auckland property ladder is, it seems, hard work, determination - and months-long domination of the US music charts.
Ella Yelich-O'Connor, more popularly known as the artist Lorde, has become a first-home buyer after paying nearly $3 million for a villa on a quiet street on the border of Herne Bay, Ponsonby and Grey Lynn. The singer-songwriter became internationally famous in 2013 after her single Royals topped the United States music charts for nine straight weeks. The single went on to sell more than 17 million copies worldwide and win two Grammy Awards.
It's a sign of Auckland's booming housing market that her new house, a four-bedroom 182sq m property only slightly larger than the average New Zealand home, sold in August to the then 18-year-old for $2.84 million. The tidy villa, built in 1900 and on a 447sq m section, has a heated swimming pool and a rateable value of $1.9 million. It is understood, following renovations, the property will be home for the singer who has until now lived with her family in Devonport.
One of the country's ten most expensive state houses is worth almost $2 million and is a neighbour to Lorde's new Ponsonby home.
The four-bedroom villa owned by Housing New Zealand sits on a quiet street on the border of Herne Bay, Ponsonby and Grey Lynn, has a book value of $1.96 million, and is rented for $95 per week.
Tenant Anita Jones said she hadn't been aware of the star's close proximity but thought it was "awesome" news.
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