The auction was to "test the market", but it was more for people "being nosy".

One of three sections at the new Rose Manor subdivision sold at auction on Wednesday, but neither the developer nor the auctioneer said they were surprised.

A 850-square metre section sold for $252,000, above the reserve price.

And while a 630sqm section had one bid, it did not meet the reserve so was not sold.

There were no bids for the 805sqm section, prompting someone at the auction to comment, "people here are just being nosy".

Harcourts Marlborough auctioneer Bryan Palmer said they were not "despondent".

"We'd like to have sold the other two but not surprised at all," Palmer said.

"We got one out of three and so that's setting the benchmark."

DeLuxe Group Limited managing director Greg Smith said the auction went as he thought it would.

"We put two sections up within the subdivision and one outside the subdivision. I guess I didn't have a lot of confidence that the one outside the subdivision would sell at auction," he said.

Smith said he was pleased with what the one section did sell for.

"I guess the price that was set for the one that was sold was about on par with my thinking, so from that perspective it is quite pleasing."

Harcourts Marlborough sales agent Ben McLennan said there was a lot of interest from people outside the auction.

"There is a long list of people I've got to call people back ... they want to see how the auction went," he said.

There would be 19 sections available in the first three stages. Eight of them would be for turn key homes (ready to move in), while the remainder would be available for purchase from December 7.

The Rose Manor subdivision would add 190 new homes to Blenheim's housing market over the next few years.

Titles for the sections in stages one to three were not due until July or August 2018.

Contractors would begin work on the subdivision on December 4, however, major work including road development and sewerage would start in January.