There was a good selection of units on offer at this week's main Auckland apartment auctions, and there were plenty of potential buyers willing to place bids, although not everything sold under the hammer.
In general buyers are remaining a bit cautious. If bidding doesn't reach the reserve they are inclined to keep their hands in their pockets, which keeps the auctioneers and their sales staff fit as they shuttle back and forth between the highest bidders and the vendors to try and close gap between the vendor's price expectations and the price buyers are prepared to pay.
As a result, extended negotiations in between lots are becoming an increasingly common feature in the auction rooms. This is increasing the average time per lot, so if you intend staying for the whole event it may pay to bring a cushion and a picnic lunch.
At City Sales' auction six apartments were offered this week and all attracted bids, four of them attracting quite competitive bidding, but all were passed for sale by negotiation.
The apartments on offer included a 92 square metre, two bedroom apartment with two bathrooms, two car parks and a 24 square metre deck in The Point complex on the waterfront at Viaduct Harbour.
It was on a leasehold title with total outgoings of $27,269 a year, and attracted strong bidding from several interested parties, but was passed in with a top bid of $910,000.
At the other end of the price spectrum, a 34 square metre leasehold unit in the Grand Central complex, (the historic former Auckland Central Railway Station building) was passed in with a top bid of $49,000.
At Barfoot & Thompson's apartment auction two units were offered, one at Eden Crescent on the CBD fringe, and the other out at Stonefields.
Both attracted multiple bids and the Eden Crescent unit was sold under the hammer, while the Stonefields unit was passed in for sale by negotiation.
At Ray White City Apartments' auction, four units were offered, with the three that were in the CBD attracting multiple bids and selling under the hammer. The fourth, a unit on Don Croot St in Kingsland, attracted just a single bid and was passed in
The prices ranged from $125,000 for a leasehold unit in the Q Central complex just off the top of Queen St, to $1.325 million for an apartment in the Precinct Residences building on Lorne St.
Check out the individual results on our Auction Results page.
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16 Comments
Thank you for this fine reporting, Greg. It is good to read about the actual selling environment as these are vital information not available just by reading the numbers.
In any case, it appears that auctions are no longer as hot as they were a few months ago given the low clearance rates (75% of a low number is not a good indication) and the accompanying anecdote of longer negotiations (thus needing cushions and picnic lunches).
Again, thank you for this insightful analysis, Mr Greg Ninness
Yes agreed, the top end foreign buyers are gone now it's a case of how long vendors will realize that they have to drop their prices to realistically meet the market. Remember the average Auckland resident can only afford around $500 to $600k. And god help them if they've got more than one child (The banks are very restrictive).
CV's can go down though. People think that house prices can never drop, but they are really not much different from company shares. eg houses are only worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it. It is the same with other forms of investment too. Thing can easily halve in value on paper.
I dont understand why anyone would buy an apartment , the levy's, fees, special levy's, unforeseen maintanance costs for things like lifts and mechanical equipment and just cleaning ( not to mention painting ) , BC rules, regulations and hassle-factor is not worth the candle .
CV's can go down though. People think that house prices can never drop, but they are really not much different from company shares. eg houses are only worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it. It is the same with other forms of investment too. Thing can easily halve in value on paper.
Capital Values are totally irrelevant as to a property's value.
It is pure and simple for rating purposes.
Irrelevant until you are wanting to sell and buyers want to buy under the CV when they think they are getting a good buy.
If buying I would prefer a lower CV because then the sellers don't expect to get as much if it had a higher CV!
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