Buy this house and the seller will throw in a free, ‘brand new’ Tesla

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A homeowner in New Zealand’s rapidly cooling housing market is turning to an unusual way to attract buyers — by offering a free Tesla car.

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The listing for a new seven-bedroom house in the suburbs of Auckland, the nation’s largest city, is offering one of Tesla Inc.’s Model Y cars, an indication of the lengths sellers are going to advertise homes as rising borrowing costs hurt demand.

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The advertisement, by real estate agents Barfoot & Thompson is headlined: “Brand new Tesla and brand new home.”

Aggressive interest rate hikes by central banks worldwide have caused a global slump in housing markets, with New Zealand being one of the hardest hit. The supply of homes for sale rose 43 per cent year-on-year last month, according to the Trade Me property auction site, further driving down prices.

Residential property prices in October released Thursday by the site also show that the asking price for an average house in Auckland fell 3.4 per cent compared to the same month last year. That follows a broader 7.5 per cent slide in median property prices in October since the same period last year, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.