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More than twice as many homes were sold at auction in the first week of July as in the same week last year

Property
More than twice as many homes were sold at auction in the first week of July as in the same week last year
10th Jul 20, 8:58am by Greg Ninness

Residential auction activity remained buoyant in the first week of July compared to the same period of last year.

Interest.co.nz monitored 230 residential property auctions in the week from June 29 to July 5, which was up 61% compared to the 143 auctions it monitored in the week of 1-7 July last year.

And more than twice as many sales were achieved at last week's auctions compared to the equivalent week of last year.

Of the 230 properties marketed for auction in the week of June 29 to July 5, sales were achieved on 132, giving an overall sales rate of 57%.

But in the week of July 1-7 last year sales were achieved on just 62 properties, giving an overall sales rate of 43%.

Prices also looked reasonably buoyant.

Where interest.co.nz was able to match selling prices with rating valuations (RVs) on the properties that sold, 81% of prices were higher than their RVs on the properties that sold in the first week of July this year, compared to 49% that were higher than their RVs in the equivalent week of last year.

Which suggests that although it might be cold outside, the relatively high level of activity is keeping the auction rooms nice and toasty.

Details of all the properties offered at the auctions monitored by interest.co.nz and the results achieved are available on our Residential Auction Results page.

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76 Comments

by  richard1965  |  10th Jul 20, 9:13am 1594329204

Market as of now is strong be it stock or house with no any visible sign of consequence of being hit by panademic.

It is as if it just started from where it left before the lockdown.

May fall in future, is just a speculation as of now, though should fall but hard to forecast in present market condition.

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by  stuart786786  |  10th Jul 20, 9:28am 1594330098

Agree - Now important Make or Break month will be in October / November.

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by  tothepoint - d…  |  10th Jul 20, 2:38pm 1594348691

It appears that houses/property are becoming an increasingly popular commodity.

In times of uncertainty, people feel safer with real/tangible assets than with lesser forms of wealth/capital (including money in the bank).

TTP

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by  J.C.  |  10th Jul 20, 5:01pm 1594357262

It appears that houses/property are becoming an increasingly popular commodity.

Why? Do you have any evidence-based research to support that claim?

In times of uncertainty, people feel safer with real/tangible assets than with lesser forms of wealth/capital (including money in the bank).

Similarly, do you have any actual evidence? And what's a "lesser for of wealth / capital"? Cash at hand? Why would people who have liquid assets feel less safe now than any other time?

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by  b21  |  10th Jul 20, 9:43pm 1594374229

Thanks for your daily propaganda from the greedy side of the country TTP.

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by  PatrickW  |  10th Jul 20, 3:04pm 1594350271

Break is the key word, buying stock that has always been substandard and essentially over paying for the land only. A current article by Otago University says it all.......but we already knew this didn't we?

https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/38133

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by  mikekirk29  |  10th Jul 20, 9:14am 1594329292

I refer you to the comments I made previously

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by  mikekirk29  |  10th Jul 20, 9:16am 1594329389

June sales look like up 15% to 20% on last year
And so should be as for March-June ie 4m, are down 27% on last year

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by  Foreign buyer  |  10th Jul 20, 9:46am 1594331195

First sentence is very telling:

"Prices paid for houses fell only modestly in June as Government economic support and widespread mortgage holidays prevented a wave of forced sales."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/122059791/house-pr…

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by  Weld  |  10th Jul 20, 9:28pm 1594373336

How long can this economic support and mortgage holidays be sustained? Three more months? Six? A year?
Sooner or later the fiscal morphine will run out, and then the pain will be felt.

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by  b21  |  10th Jul 20, 9:41pm 1594374075

The sooner it happens the better since this is just postponing the pain which will make it even worse.

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by  theglc  |  11th Jul 20, 9:12am 1594415558

I think they should do a graduated withdrawal to avoid a lot of stock coming on the market at once and and immediate crash.

Something like 75% of your mortgage on holiday for 2 months 50% 2months 25% 2months. There will be a lot of people on these holidays that have lost their jobs or taken pay cuts who will be desperately looking for new jobs any ways to fill the shortfall.

Doesnt help anyone with sudden crashes, it is within everyones interest for the correction over a year to 18 months.

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by  company of heroes  |  10th Jul 20, 9:50am 1594331456

I noticed now every week there is something to report and always positive. :) Hope this weekly report thing keeps going cause if not, we will probably know what happened. ;)

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by  Pragmatist  |  10th Jul 20, 9:54am 1594331643

Greg, I have a question regarding the number of auction this year vs last year. Are these auction numbers being sourced from the same agencies, or have you expanded your data collection sources since last year?

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by  RickStrauss  |  10th Jul 20, 10:23am 1594333382

Does not look like a good time to be trying to sell an apartment.

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by  Brock Landers  |  10th Jul 20, 10:35am 1594334154

The criminal central bankers will never allow their property bubble to deflate.

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by  printer8  |  10th Jul 20, 11:12am 1594336333

Brock
You are seemingly a tad bit negative.
Why?
Is it because
- You don't own property and you are envy driven? or,
- You are frustrated at being unable to afford a home? or
- You just like conspiracy theories? or,
- Some other reason?

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by  youngdumbandfullofit  |  10th Jul 20, 11:32am 1594337567

Don't forget people owning looking to trade up to more expensive homes also benefit from smaller mortgages if house prices decrease.

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by  printer8  |  10th Jul 20, 1:16pm 1594343785

yd&foi
I agree totally with you - in a period of house price decrease, the margin between your and a more expensive house also decreases provided the fall is consistent over all price ranges (and often it is greater at the higher end of the price range).
I tried pointing this out last year and was told that it was the dumbest post that had been on interest.co. If someone really needs the maths,then they need to work it out.
Provided one has the equity in their existing home, a period of house price falls is an opportune time to consider looking at trading up just as it is for FHB in buying.
It however seems on these figures it is still a case of waiting if a significant fall is to materialise.

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by  Ex Expat  |  10th Jul 20, 2:04pm 1594346695

The only rider with that is that the selection, particularly of quality properties, is better on the upswing.

As for the last sentence, the DGM are pushing their predictions of a collapse further out. I can see their logic but my time in the markets taught me that when the reality doesn’t match the theory, it’s not always the market that is wrong. I need to buy more Gold to average down my position. The Kiwi $ is killing me.

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by  RickStrauss  |  10th Jul 20, 11:46am 1594338397

Brock may not be in favour of wealth redistribution.

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by  Brock Landers  |  10th Jul 20, 7:04pm 1594364645

Facts are neither positive or negative. It's down to how they are interpreted.

Why do you interpret it as a negative to have a cartel of unelected crooks slavishly manipulating the financial system with a heavy bias for engineering asset prices ever upwards?

I would have assumed those with their snouts deepest in the trough would think it's brilliant.

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by  b21  |  10th Jul 20, 9:45pm 1594374302

Some could ask the exact opposite questions to you, how would you feel about that?

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by  theglc  |  11th Jul 20, 9:14am 1594415696

Sometimes it becomes out of their control

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by  Chairman Moa  |  10th Jul 20, 11:14am 1594336497

A school mate made his wealth in the Far East and is returning to down-under.
He checked out a few properties in Ponsonby, Pt Chev, Parnell areas. Now he's gunning for this as it's offering better value and excellent rate of return on his money. Two of the best schools are just few minutes walk away.

https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-spring+hill-133734770

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by  Ex Expat  |  10th Jul 20, 12:26pm 1594340774

Let’s hope he sends any children to Australian Universities rather than lumbering the NZ tax payer with their education.

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by  Chairman Moa  |  10th Jul 20, 12:48pm 1594342139

Don't think so going by the latest universities ranking, only one made it to the top 100.

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by  Ex Expat  |  10th Jul 20, 1:56pm 1594346212

Good. Not everyone thinks like that. We need to shut down Country shopping. Some entitlements need to have a qualifying minimum tax paid history. We do something similar with Super so why not with education as well. Or maybe limit Uni to those who qualified from NZ schools.

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by  Chairman Moa  |  10th Jul 20, 3:04pm 1594350244

No different from people selling their properties for huge profit and not paying one cent in tax..
Kettle, black....

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by  Ex Expat  |  10th Jul 20, 3:17pm 1594351061

Deflection. I think you will find Kiwis have less and less tolerance for funding fair weather New Zealanders. I hope they will soon implement a rule requiring anyone who left NZ after 24/3 to fund their own quarantine when returning and put them at the back of the queue. This isn’t a game and there have to be consequences.

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by  house hunter  |  10th Jul 20, 3:15pm 1594350948

What list are you looking at? Australia have 5 universities (ANU, Sydney, Queensland, UNSW, Monash) in the top 100 of the 2020 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. New Zealand's top university is Auckland, at 179=.

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by  Yvil  |  10th Jul 20, 11:31am 1594337470

Just wait three month and see… (copied and pasted from three months ago for the last… 30 years)

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by  Nzdan  |  10th Jul 20, 11:56am 1594339004
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by  VeryInterested  |  10th Jul 20, 12:01pm 1594339283

Oops page not found.

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by  Nzdan  |  10th Jul 20, 1:19pm 1594343974

In setting PropertyPrices2Fall as bold it broke the link, but regardless the link is broken as he was banned from this site.

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by  Pragmatist  |  10th Jul 20, 4:29pm 1594355370

But some just don't stay dead... Probably think they are resurrected in a likeness of Christ, but the odour suggests they are more of the variety found on the tv series "The walking dead"...

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by  Due Diligence  |  10th Jul 20, 6:31pm 1594362662

The boogeyman.

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by  Zachary Smith  |  10th Jul 20, 4:36pm 1594355788

I wonder what happened to NorthernLights.

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by  Ex Expat  |  10th Jul 20, 6:42pm 1594363356

Don’t forget Retired Poppy. There is a long list of posters that either continually pushed their predictions of gloom out or quietly disappeared when it came time to eat some humble pie.

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by  CourtJester  |  10th Jul 20, 4:25pm 1594355147

For many 'young' (under 40) New Zealanders, it's like being a kid, playing Monopoly with a group of older kids. Every time they make good progress, the older kids change the rules.
"Oh, you're getting $2000 every turn? Sorry, that rule will no longer apply. What's that, you're on Park Place with enough cash to buy it? Well we don't think $5000 is a fair price for it, let's change it to $10000."
Same in real life with interest rates, mortgage holidays, subsidies, negative gearing, LVR rules etc. Every time the property market slows down, someone in power comes up with new rules to give it another push. And then they tell the young people to stop being so negative, just be smart, do it like I did...
"Oh, did you think you're gonna be able to buy your first property? But you've been saying that every turn! Are you stupid or something?"

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by  Foreign buyer  |  10th Jul 20, 5:32pm 1594359172

Generational whack a mole where the boomers are keeping tight hold of that giant mallet.

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by  Ex Expat  |  10th Jul 20, 6:45pm 1594363515

Is it really Boomers? They run from 56 to 76 years old. How many are actively buying properties? I think it’s more that they aren’t coughing up properties younger buyers want.

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by  OpenMinded  |  11th Jul 20, 11:32am 1594423921

Doubtful it’s boomers dominating these days, it’s only going to be the tail end of the boomers as they age like the rest of us. Now that the full flow immigration tap has been throttled back it is ironically the boomers next stop that will help us catch up on housing supply. Just think how many houses are freed up for younger folk every time a giant retirement village is opened. Boomers have done well from property, but the village operators are very adept at milking their equity out of them in their final years.

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by  Yvil  |  10th Jul 20, 5:33pm 1594359239

Well that is very, very untrue, the rules of property are simple and constant, they don't change much at all, buy and hold, it's that simple. The problem is that many refuse to play by these rules but prefer to complain about them forever

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by  CourtJester  |  10th Jul 20, 6:30pm 1594362637

Sure, it's just the stupid people missing out on epic gains, not buying $800k houses on $50k salaries.
Rules are the same? Don't be ridiculous. How many times has the interest rate been lowered over the past 10 years? What about LVR restrictions?
Sure, buy and hold. What you don't understand is that I'm talking about the people who can't buy.

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by  Brock Landers  |  10th Jul 20, 7:10pm 1594365008

It boils down to how strong your faith is that interest rates will never trend upwards again.

Somebody is going to have to be the greatest fool.

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by  Yvil  |  10th Jul 20, 8:08pm 1594368486

Interest rates have been lowered for everyone and LVR's also apply to all the same. Everyone can buy a property if they really want to, I bought my first property with exactly $0.

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by  al123  |  10th Jul 20, 8:57pm 1594371471

Yvil, you're contradicting yourself. First you said the rules don't change, then you say you bought your first property with $0. Are you claiming that it would be possible for someone to do that today? Or will you admit that it is a hell of a lot harder to buy a first home than it used to be?

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by  Yvil  |  11th Jul 20, 10:46am 1594421173

Of course you can buy a house with $0 today, that's my whole point, the rules don't change, I can't believe you and the 8 thumbs up on your post don't realise that. I'm an Architect and I had my practice for 18 years, business is more creative than Architecture, anything can be done. Of course you can buy a house today with $0 of your own, you just need to know how

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by  al123  |  11th Jul 20, 12:14pm 1594426478

Ok. How do you buy a house with zero dollars, today? You are certainly not going to be able to get a mortgage from any bank.

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by  Yvil  |  12th Jul 20, 4:29pm 1594528195

I can tell you how, it isn't that difficult but first why should I tell you? Is it something you're willing to take on board or is just going to lead to endless arguments?

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by  al123  |  12th Jul 20, 6:44pm 1594536269

In other words, you don't have a good answer, but you needed to give yourself an out, so you decided to take the patronizing route. You made a claim, you claim there's a simple answer that would support your claim - if you're not giving it I'm afraid you just look like you're all mouth and no trousers.

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by  Yvil  |  12th Jul 20, 7:16pm 1594538202

Well you've just very clearly answered my question, you choose to argue… Had you said, "sure I'd like to know so I can do it myself ", I would have told you how to do it.
That's the sad thing about these comments, rather than learn from others who have more experience, most commenters rather argue, what's the point? It doesn't get you ahead in life

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by  al123  |  12th Jul 20, 7:22pm 1594538524

Yvil, it's very very obvious to everyone what you are doing. Pretending that you are not answering because your feelings are so delicate that you're not prepared to answer unless other people give you the level of deference you for some reason think is your due is just a very transparent way of avoiding giving an answer. If you make a claim, and you're challenged on that claim, you either back it up or admit defeat.

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by  Yvil  |  13th Jul 20, 11:18am 1594595897

Again, all you want to do is argue…
I'm sure you're much better than me at whatever you do, day in day out for work, if you offered me some free advice I would say "thanks a lot" I would not argue with you

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by  al123  |  13th Jul 20, 11:33am 1594596790

Look, I think we're at diminishing returns. But I think you aren't realising how you are coming across here. There are mountains of evidence for the fact that it is actually harder to buy a first home than it used to be, and it's not just that millennials don't work hard enough, or spend too much on avocados, or whatever nonsense. Then you come along and basically tell everyone pointing this out that we're just stupid and that anyone can buy a house with $0. Then you assert some expertise - to be frank, anyone can do that on the internet, whether they are experts or not - and refuse to back up your claim but seemingly only if you can get a promise that no one will challenge you. It seems very, very unlikely to me that you have a magical solution for how to buy a house with $0 that doesn't involve anything both obvious and impractical for the majority, like 'get your parents to give you $100k.' My free advice to you is have a little more empathy, and don't expect people to simply accept the claims you make if you are not prepared to back them up, especially as you seem to want others to jump through hoops before you'll provide simple answers.

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by  Fritz  |  10th Jul 20, 7:16pm 1594365388

That's bullshit, and you know it. Property is a pyramid scheme, it's much much harder for a young person on the average income to get into home ownership than it was 20 years ago.

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by  Yvil  |  10th Jul 20, 8:27pm 1594369638

Property is not a pyramid scheme, you don't sell a house to 6 people who then each onsell that house to another 6 people etc… The sooner you understand that, the sooner you can get rid of the misplaced belief that "it will all fall over".
OK it may be harder to buy a house today than 20 years ago, so what? If you give up or don't try because "it's hard" too bad that's your problem. Those that persist in the face of "things being hard" (your words) reap the benefits later on. (and those who gave up will say to those that succeeded, "you were lucky" or "you were just born a the right time" or similar rubbish.

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by  Brock Landers  |  10th Jul 20, 8:55pm 1594371342

It absolutely will all fall over eventually, that is an inescapable mathematical certainty. The only real question is whether it falls over with a property market crash or a currency collapse. The only reason the whole rotten mess hasn't fallen over so far is due to a decade of government and central banker interventions.

If you consider the organization to be "property speculators", I would say the shoe fits remarkably well.

"In a pyramid scheme, an organization compels individuals who wish to join to make a payment. In exchange, the organization promises its new members a share of the money taken from every additional member that they recruit. The directors of the organization (those at the top of the pyramid) also receive a share of these payments. For the directors, the scheme is potentially lucrative—whether or not they do any work, the organization's membership has a strong incentive to continue recruiting and funneling money to the top of the pyramid.

Such organizations seldom involve sales of products or services with value. Without creating any goods or services, the only revenue streams for the scheme are recruiting more members or soliciting more money from current members. The behavior of pyramid schemes follows the mathematics concerning exponential growth quite closely. Each level of the pyramid is much larger than the one before it. For a pyramid scheme to make money for everyone who enrolls in it, it would have to expand indefinitely. This is not possible because the population of Earth is finite. When the scheme inevitably runs out of new recruits, lacking other sources of revenue, it collapses. Since the biggest terms in a geometric sequence are at the end, most people will be in the lower levels of the pyramid; accordingly, the bottom layer of the pyramid contains the most people. The people working for pyramid schemes try to promote the actual company instead of the product they are selling. Eventually, all of the people at the lower levels of the pyramid do not make any money; only the people at the top turn a profit.

People in the upper layers of the pyramid typically profit, while those in the lower layers typically lose money. Since most of the members in the scheme are at the bottom, most participants will not make any money. In particular, when the scheme collapses, most members will be in the bottom layers and thus will not have any opportunity to profit from the scheme; still, they will have already paid to join. Therefore, a pyramid scheme is characterized by a few people (including the creators of the scheme) making large amounts of money, while subsequent members lose money. For this reason, they are considered scams."

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by  Yvil  |  11th Jul 20, 10:51am 1594421510

"It absolutely will all fall over eventually, that is an inescapable mathematical certainty"

I stopped reading right there, this opinion is incredibly narrow-minded and closed off to any possibility other than the one you believe in. The only thing that is certain is that no one can predict the future with certainty,

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by  RickStrauss  |  11th Jul 20, 12:41pm 1594428091

That's missing the context of New Zealand's history.

Housing was affordable in NZ because of massive efforts to make it so in the decades following WW2.

Nothing wrong with younger generations highlighting the selfish conduct and attitudes of older generations to throw away this legacy that was passed to them in favour of enriching themselves at the expense of preceding and succeeding generations. Especially when the older generations were quick to rant at smashed avocado and spendthrifts.

The problem is self-absorbed behaviour and pretense that it is as it ever was.

We should not be ignorant of history.

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by  theglc  |  11th Jul 20, 9:21am 1594416099
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by  ex agent  |  10th Jul 20, 2:02pm 1594346526

One of my children has just sold a dwelling in one of our major cities. The results for his home and the other home sold on the same day this week were simply amazing. Both were highly sought after and everyone is amazed including the agent as both sold at figures well above what everyone expected they would reach. I have to say that it is getting harder for first home buyers out there which is a real shame as everyone is entitled to be able to buy a home for themselves and their family members.

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by  b21  |  10th Jul 20, 3:15pm 1594350954

Two of my children say right the opposite. Brilliant times for FHB ahead.

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by  JJS  |  10th Jul 20, 3:40pm 1594352427

They'll be waiting a while, unless they are happy with living in the outskirts. "Auction brought forward" is now a common sight in desirable central Auckland suburbs

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by  b21  |  10th Jul 20, 6:11pm 1594361463

The old ones should be fine since they could buy many years ago but the younger even having a well paid job will never be able to afford his own home. Most commentators here look like they are just worried about more homes being sold at higher prices. What a lack os solidarity and shameful and greedy behaviour!!!

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by  Fritz  |  10th Jul 20, 7:14pm 1594365246

Yes, but don't you think this attitude is very common in the greedy NZ of 2020? It's all about 'Me, me, me'!!!

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by  Brock Landers  |  10th Jul 20, 7:27pm 1594366071

It's already been forgotten what the young have had to sacrifice to protect the older generations from the Wuhan virus. We seem to have a particularly nasty and entitled cohort of these people in this country.

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by  Fritz  |  10th Jul 20, 7:12pm 1594365139

Why?
Yes interest rates are really low, but prices are still sky high.
Edit - Sorry, I see you are being sarcastic, judging by your follow on comment...

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by  b21  |  10th Jul 20, 10:00pm 1594375252

No problem, what most don’t understand is that rates is just part of the equation, actually the length of the mortgage is even more important when it comes to the total interest paid and when it comes to this we are in historical maximums, the reason is pretty obvious though, otherwise such high prices would make payments unserviceable.

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by  Due Diligence  |  10th Jul 20, 3:59pm 1594353567

"Buoyant". A lovely word.

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by  Tillers  |  10th Jul 20, 5:40pm 1594359606

How is a 57% clearance rate buoyant???

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by  Brock Landers  |  10th Jul 20, 7:19pm 1594365550

The real estate industry has a repertoire of very carefully chosen words and selective statistics to spin a particular narrative in the public consciousness at all times.

It's a shame that very few are willing and able to counter their dishonesty.

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by  Carlos67  |  11th Jul 20, 5:19am 1594401574

Just missed out on a house at auction a couple of days ago as it had only one other bidder that was intent on buying it. Prices definitely coming down to near the RV now on houses and the only appartment right near the beach at the mount had zero interest not even an opening bid. A house in the mid 700s had 5 or 6 bidders and sold easily. Clearance rates totally depend on what's on offer. If you have a flood of apartments it's going to look bad but tastefully renovated property in the 700s sell like hot cakes.

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by  ynot  |  12th Jul 20, 9:35pm 1594546505

Yes Carlos, really unusual market. Won't know what's really happening for a few more months. Hot and cold at the moment.

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