Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms twice as busy as this time last year

Property

Sales rates ranged from 45% to 100% at Barfoot & Thompson's auctions last week

7th Jul 20, 10:34am by Greg Ninness

Activity in Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms is continuing in a reasonably solid fashion as we head squarely into the winter selling season.

The agency marketed 124 residential properties for auction in the week from June 29 to July 5, which was up slightly from 97 the week before that.

The sales rate was also up, with sales being achieved on 67 properties in the week from 29 June to 5 July, giving an overall sales rate of 54%, compared to 45% the previous week.

The auction rooms are also significantly busier than they were at this time last year.

In the first week of July last year (1-7 July) Barfoot & Thompson marketed 65 properties for sale by auction and had a sales rate of 42%.

That means nearly twice as many properties passed through the agency's auction rooms last week than they did in the same week of last year, and the sales rate was also up this year.

The sales rates at Barfoot's auctions last week ranged form 45% at the North Shore auction to 100% at the on-site auctions (see table below).

Details of the individual properties offered and the prices achieved are available on our Residential Auction Results page.

The comment stream on this story is now closed.

Barfoot & Thompson Residential Auction Results
29 June - 5 July 2020
Date	Venue	Sold	Sold Post	Sold Prior	Not Sold	Postponed	Withdrawn	Total	% Sold
29 June - 5 July	On-site	5						5	100%
30 June	Manukau	14		2	13			29	55%
30 June	Shortland St	4		1	6			11	45%
1 July	Whangarei	1						1	100%
1 July	Shortland St	20			14			34	59%
1 July	Pukekohe	2			2			4	50%
2 July	North Shore	8		1	12	1		22	41%
2 July	Kerikeri			1	1			2	50%
2 July	Shortland St	4		1	6			11	45%
3 July	Shortland St	2		1	2			5	60%
Total	All venues	60		7	56	1		124	54%

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46 Comments

by mikekirk29 | 7th Jul 20, 10:42am 1594075377

Again, not a surprise as the flow on from hold up in lockdown continues to go through
note that listings on RE NZ started to fall this week

by printer8 | 7th Jul 20, 11:35am 1594078501

Mike
What do you mean by "the flow on from hold up in lockdown continues to go through"?
Do you mean the hold up in completion of sales for contracts signed before or during lock down?

by mikekirk29 | 7th Jul 20, 2:53pm 1594090416

Partially.
But mostly, the pent up demand that could not be actioned in the period 23.3.20 - mid June 2020.
Expect this to be out of the system by end July but with no momentum coming from the back of the queue, the surge abates
Biggest impact on housing demand and lending will be increased unemployment. This is increasing but rate of increase can be expected to increase a lot more from early September due to wage subsidies ceasing.
I note also feedback from trade magazines online stating that banks are reluctant to lend to those on subsidies.
Hence, Equab view that investors will be mainstay of market in next 2 years is looking v accurate. Esp those not needing to buy.
Also, bear in mind that auction has become more popular this year as a % of sales made, so if auction numbers are up, this does not necessarily mean TOTAL sales will be
June sales will likely be above those of June 19 precisely because of catch up.
But, as when Barfoots announced its June figures, if you examine 4 months data (March-June incl) it will be clear that sales are down 15% roughly.
When REINZ comes out, we will know!

by Houseworks | 7th Jul 20, 12:46pm 1594082810

That same flow on aka pent up demand will be felt worldwide mark my words. After the flow on comes the momentum

by printer8 | 7th Jul 20, 1:14pm 1594084483

Hi houseworks
I ask the question as previously mike has posted that auction results are due to contracts signed at least six to eight weeks previously.
True!

by Houseworks | 7th Jul 20, 2:13pm 1594088019

Right maybe he wasnt referring to pent up demand phenomenon. However I think it's a BIG factor now. Holiday accom in taupo is packed to the gunnels for the school hols. We went through there yesterday and nearly every motel has no vacancy. Which corresponds to recent news report saying they have experienced a big upswing in occupancy from last year levels at same time. Go well.

by tothepoint - d… | 7th Jul 20, 2:27pm 1594088830

I'm told that there's an acute shortage of stand-alone houses in the city suburbs of both Auckland and Wellington.

Apparently, buyers remain very frustrated by the shortage of house listings in Auckland's trendy inner-city suburbs such as Ponsonby, Freemans Bay and Parnell. In Wellington, there are dire shortages of house listings in handy up-market suburbs such as Brooklyn and Kelburn.

It's not too surprising when you look through those tacky/glossy booklets that the real estate agents distribute...... They are notably deplete of house listings in the aforementioned suburbs.

I guess that's because owners of houses situated in good locations just won't sell.

TTP

by J.C. | 7th Jul 20, 3:38pm 1594093111

I say nonsense. The vast majority of NZers can't afford the price tags of property in those areas. You'd have to be in the top decile of income earning h'holds to afford those areas. And many of those h'holds are also under income pressures caused by the economic climate.

by tothepoint - d… | 7th Jul 20, 5:40pm 1594100443

Hi J.C.,

Ten percent of income earners are in the top decile. That's a matter of fact.......

Many of these people are well-endowed, financially, and easily capable of buying expensive property.

Conversely, many of them already own expensive property and are under no financial pressure whatsoever to sell. Furthermore, they simply have no desire to sell.

Notably, some people in the top decile of income earners are from "old money" families, who would laugh at your post above - except that they are too dignified to do so. And they prefer to keep a low profile.

Anyway, go ask folk who are searching to buy houses in the suburbs I mentioned in my post above.... You'll find plenty who are frustrated - but not by any shortage of money/resources. In fact, some of them have been actively searching for many months - even years.

Have a nice evening.

TTP

by J.C. | 7th Jul 20, 6:28pm 1594103323

Meh. Again. I very much doubt there is a signficant number of frustrated buyers looking for homes in some of the most expensive suburbs in the country. Of course, if you can prove otherwise, go ahead. The subjective opinion of a REA is not proof.

by tothepoint - d… | 7th Jul 20, 7:29pm 1594106984

Hi J.C.,

Agree with you. There's little point in talking with real estate agents. They tend to have a biased/loaded set of agenda - nearly always related to maximising their personal commission/income.

As above, I suggest that you talk with friends/acquaintances and work colleagues who are at the knife-edge of the market, actively searching for a house in central Auckland/ Wellington.

Also, find out for yourself just how many listings there are in the more sought-after city suburbs. (It's not difficult to get an overview.) A registered valuer I know told me recently that, "...... Wellington Central market has got harder and harder for buyers over the last few years." Not too many buyers out there now would question that.

GingerNinja, who visits here occasionally, shared her experiences about house-hunting in Wellington a while back. It took her many months to find a house in Wellington - despite, I recall, having sold a house abroad and finance apparently not being a problem for her. There are plenty more people out there like GingerNinja......

TTP

by 8014 | 7th Jul 20, 11:24am 1594077852

https://www.qv.co.nz/property/christchurch-city/richmond-hill-8081/197-…

RV $970'000, sold at auction this weekend for $1.385m. Newish subdivision up a no-exit road with more sections likely to come online within the next 12-24 months. Land values have been flat or decreasing, so the implied per square meter cost of the building is $4'600. Obviously one transaction is not indicative of the market, but it demonstrates there are still buyers willing to pay a premium for the right (for the buyer) property.

by Tillers | 7th Jul 20, 11:53am 1594079607

The only way is up!

by oreo | 7th Jul 20, 11:54am 1594079699

I just don’t understand who the hell is buying! I mean it is like the sharemarket.
Price of those houses are so ridiculous! Do people think that we will be the only survivors or something and that everyone is going to want to come here.
Or Hong Kong people are doing the sneaky and are parking their money.
I just don’t understand the logic.
Overseas people can afford those prices but less and less kiwis can

by Narrabeen Boy | 7th Jul 20, 12:24pm 1594081456

The bears are getting angry!!!!!!

by Houseworks | 7th Jul 20, 12:43pm 1594082599

While the bulls are getting busy

by printer8 | 7th Jul 20, 1:22pm 1594084947

oreo
Clearly the share market is currently driven by the abundance of cash about and low interest rates due to QE and low central banks cash rates. With such low returns on investments it is not surprising investors are looking to assets. While there may be some Hong Kong investors parking their money here in property, the reality is that the anti-FB requirements are pretty rigorous and if the NZ property market is performing well on numerous sales then it is more likely due to factors such low interest rates and local demand (including returning expats).
The $64million question is how the share market sentiment will translate to the housing market?
Interestingly in Tony Alexander's (its fine to rubbish him if you have been a bank economist) spending survey results last week showed 6% of respondents indicated that they were looking to purchasing investment property. Whether or not this intention is carried through or not, it does indicate a sentiment that some a looking towards investment property despite widespread predictions of some short to medium term price falls.
While care should be taken with interpretation of auction results (e.g. they are not reflective of the whole market and the sample size is quite small), they provide the best real time market indicator and results over the past four weeks have consistently not shown any indication of any significant fall - rather that prices are holding up well. In line with this I note that Westpac (yes, anonymous keyboard warriors you can rubbish them also) have pulled back their estimate of the extent of the fall from 10% to 7%.
Clearly it is early days with mortgage holidays and wage subsidies still in place so the full effects of the economic impact may yet to show.
Talking with my share broker the other day; he indicated that the view of most brokers was that investors (including the big ones) in the share market are looking beyond the short term and that some fall could be expected in the short term as the economic realities start to hit both here and such as in the States.
Also interestingly Jacinda is not extending the wage subsidy beyond 1 September - that surprised me a little as a rush of lay-offs and significant rise in unemployment rate is not what a government want a couple of weeks out from an election. Does the government have an expectation that the economic impact of the virus may not be as significant as expected and there is some sentiment to support that.
As I have posted previously that in terms of property I am cashed up, in neutral, watching and waiting.
I suggest that potential FHB provided they have security of employment they should be doing likewise and take advantage of any improved affordability due to the low mortgage rates and possible fall in prices.
However, the claims of 50% of falls in prices - or even a bubble burst - as claimed by some on this site may unfortunately be just a forlorn hope.

by oreo | 7th Jul 20, 1:19pm 1594084784

I guess the answer is that most people love to gamble.

by printer8 | 7th Jul 20, 1:26pm 1594085182

oreo
I agree that any investment has a degree of risk and uncertainty - otherwise none of us would need to work.

by loganmdonnelly | 7th Jul 20, 1:55pm 1594086910

Great comment.
As a FHB I appreciate you laying it out like this. Not really predicting anything but just outlining the current situation as it currently is.

by Fegus Woodward | 7th Jul 20, 2:55pm 1594090531

None of the bulls bears dgm spirunker garbage. Agree great high quality post.

by J.C. | 7th Jul 20, 3:43pm 1594093407

in Tony Alexander's (its fine to rubbish him if you have been a bank economist) spending survey results last week showed 6% of respondents indicated that they were looking to purchasing investment property

Tony Alexander doesn't know how to do proper consumer research. He does his research from his own panel of subscribers to his own newsletter. That's like Donald Trump executing a survey through SurveyMonkey to a panel of MAGA cap wearers. Meaningless, not representative, and biased insight.

by Shoreman | 7th Jul 20, 2:02pm 1594087322

Oreo - With mortgages at 2.69% for 2 years and TD's sub 2% who is buying ? Anyone who can afford it is/will, the return depending on where in the country you buy is 4% plus so it's a no brainer. Sure there are other costs rates, insurance, maintenance etc. but it ends up still way better than the bank with the prospects of some capital gain. To me it's 2008 all over again, no one then believed then that another cycle up was possible but that's history now.
With our success with Covid 19 against the back drop of the Virus infecting more and more of the world, with 1 million Kiwi's off shore the outlook is very strong for property. If just 5% of them bring forward their return date over the next year that's 50,00 people ! There is a strong trend currently as reported in the news of Kiwi's coming home, how long this continues is a guess, but gauging off our personnel experience of some of our kids returning and their counterparts NZ can expect a jump in population even with immigration closed.

by rastus1 | 7th Jul 20, 7:24pm 1594106691

Too much time spent reading the herald and watching 7 sharp. Reality check ahead.

by b21 | 7th Jul 20, 8:46pm 1594111589

There’s a very poor general understanding of the economic situation as a result of the misinformation spread by the likes of NZME and REINZ and their lobbyist which you may read around these comments. I would be very careful using one single sample as the trend since previous results have already been showing weakened prices despite auction rooms being generally busy.

by Glitzy | 7th Jul 20, 12:21pm 1594081281

Do you think Barfoots auction numbers are reliable given their sales reports aren't ? Or is auction data just harder to fudge ?

by bloodymigrant | 7th Jul 20, 10:52pm 1594119176

100 % not reliable. These REA are biggest crooks.

by fernglas | 7th Jul 20, 12:29pm 1594081746

Hey, Greg
The rules against plagiarism suggest that you should at least have credited Barfoot's propaganda department with the authorship of this piece. There certainly seems to be a view held by a number here that these puff pieces are selective in the information they impart.

by Basil brush | 7th Jul 20, 2:04pm 1594087488

Fernglass, I'm going in to bat for Greg here. I find his reporting of the property market to be impartial and perhaps the least biased of any journalist or media outlet in NZ.

The two bull and bear property camps that seem to have emerged on interest tend to view each article through their respective lens but if you are to take a step back, Greg and his colleagues tend to highlight observations and views backed up by comparative data points, in my opinion.

by stuart786786 | 7th Jul 20, 12:30pm 1594081838

Though many including myself feel that housing market will fall but have too admit that as of now market is strong - No sign of panademic.

If in Ooctober / November housing market is still positive than any fall is doubtfull though highly unlikely.

by Houseworks | 7th Jul 20, 12:45pm 1594082714

Any comments please YDandB

by Houseworks | 7th Jul 20, 7:40pm 1594107611

And Albert2020 usually has plenty to say

by Becnz | 7th Jul 20, 12:39pm 1594082379

It will correct but has been delayed due to government trying everything to stop it lets see which way it goes if they stop the propping it up with low interest rates and repayment holidays and zombie loans.
I have noticed a few forced sales starting to get listed so this may be the peak before the rot sets in.
Be careful when everyone is so confident in the market.

by cmat | 7th Jul 20, 12:55pm 1594083327

No issues with stock then?...

Time to pivot that narrative to something else.

by doublehelix | 7th Jul 20, 1:09pm 1594084165

Fully expect some big gains to come. Despite the ridiculous prices, there is a renewed appetite to buy at whatever the cost. Probably because of the combination of low interest rates and very high rents. And when borders reopen and inwards migration resumes it'll drive more double digit house price growth. In the short term I reckon record high prices and record unemployment at roughly the same time later this year.

by Basil brush | 7th Jul 20, 2:07pm 1594087651

Does it feel weird to write, "I reckon record high prices and record unemployment at roughly the same time later this year."?

I mean, that would be a very unusual occurrence for most countries, would it not? If this eventuated does it suggest some underlying aspect of the NZ economy is being manipulated?

by RickStrauss | 7th Jul 20, 4:43pm 1594096994

Will be interesting to see how far things can be manipulated before the population the manipulation does not favour starts to get angry.

by mikekirk29 | 7th Jul 20, 2:56pm 1594090590

Prices rise, sales fall.
Investors and those with 2+ properties rented out only interested in prices.
Those who own zip and/or want to, interested in sales too.
Those interested in "market" interested in both

by mikekirk29 | 7th Jul 20, 3:09pm 1594091390

Marked the listings totals for Auckland at lockdown on March 26th

Auckland houses and townhouses: 5708
On June 15th it was 5791 and today it is 5659.
That means that total listings are pretty much where they were 3.3 months ago.

For Rodney same property selection showed 824 on March 26th and 845 on June 15th and same today.
Rodney had 810 on May 17th and Auckland had 5621
So, listings have been pretty static.
The market is not going gangbusters, despite anecdotal excitements on here

by Houseworks | 7th Jul 20, 6:09pm 1594102178

"The agency marketed 124 residential properties for auction in the week from June 29 to July 5, which was up slightly from 97 the week before that."

Near 30 percent jump ... means "up slightly" gee I wonder how 10 percent increase would be described... no change lol

More sales and higher turnovers equates to higher total commissions ... I am glad for them but let's hope it continues in strong fashion.

by Boatman | 8th Jul 20, 7:54am 1594151656

Auckland houses are not overpriced .

A relative of mine has just bought a tiny cramped 66m2 apartment in London for £1,7 million Pounds

You can buy 4 freestanding houses in Auckland for $3.4 million

by GV 27 | 8th Jul 20, 8:59am 1594155564

by Glitzy | 8th Jul 20, 8:59am 1594155574

London has a lot of high paying jobs and one of the biggest single city economies in the world. One cannot say that about Auckland. You are comparing apples and pears.

by RickStrauss | 8th Jul 20, 9:30am 1594157421

You can buy a 2 bedroom apartment in Auckland for $4 million too.

by Chairman Moa | 8th Jul 20, 1:31pm 1594171894

You can't compare London vs Auckland..!
It's like compare the latest Ferrari Roma to a Haval H2. Both have 4 wheels, steering wheel and a engine - that's where the similarity ends.

by Yvil | 12th Jul 20, 2:51pm 1594522267

Agreed, I would never live in London, Auckland offers an infinitely superior lifestyle