Photo courtesy of Paul McInnis Auctioneer

A New Castle waterfront home has sold for $5.68 million at auction.

The sale of 24 Salamander Lane on Dec. 14 was the second-most expensive residential sale in the island town’s history, after the nearby 18 Becker Lane, according to residential sales records compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of The Registry Review. The 5,919-square-foot, 0.67-acre Becker Lane property sold for $5.94 million in December 2020.

Located on a private way on Salamander Point, the half-acre lot features 250 feet of direct water frontage with unobstructed views of Portsmouth Harbor and the Piscataqua River. The original home was built in 1669 with later additions bringing the property up to 2,652 square feet, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and one half-bath according to The Warren Group.

Paul McInnis Auctioneer, in North Hampton, handled the sale on behalf of “a family trust who wanted to have maximum exposure with open and transparent bidding,” the company said in a statement. The real-time, online-only auction drew 121 inquiries from 12 different states, resulting in in 20 registered bidders that all delivered a $25,000 deposit to be able to bid, the company said, with bidding starting at $1 million. Six bidders ultimately bid over $3 million and three bidders that bid over the $5 million mark.

“With the current lack of inventory and the cash heavy market’s desire to invest in the finest real estate, many sellers have turned to the auction method of marketing to advertise and sell their luxury properties. When the competition is this high, the best way to focus that energy is with an auction,” the company said in a statement.