Steady as she goes at Barfoot & Thompson's mid-winter auctions

Property

Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms consistently handling around 120 properties a week and achieving sales on about half of them

21st Jul 20, 10:10am by Greg Ninness

Auction activity has settled into a reasonably consistent pattern at Barfoot & Thompson, with the agency generally handling around 120 or so auction properties each week and achieving sales on about half of them

Barfoot's auction rooms handled 125 residential properties in the week form 13-19 July, compared to 122 the previous week and 124 the week before that.

The overall sales rate was 49% last week, compared to 42% the previous week and 54% the week before that.

That suggests a reasonably stable mid-winter market.

The sales rates at the individual auctions were also reasonably consistent.

At the main auctions where at least 10 properties were offered, the sales rates ranged from 40% at the Shortland Street auction on July 16, where most of the properties were from central Auckland suburbs such as One Tree Hill, Onehunga, Newmarket and Penrose, to 58% at the Shortland St auction on July 14, where most of the properties were from the inner west suburbs such as Mt Albert, Mt Roskill, Avondale, Blockhouse Bay and New Lynn.

At the big Manukau auction, the sales rate was 43% and on the North Shore it was 52% (see table below for the full break down).

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

The comment stream on this story is now closed.

Barfoot & Thompson Residential Auction Results
13-19 July 2020
Date	Venue	Sold	Sold Prior	Sold Post	Not Sold	Postponed	Withdrawn	Total	% Sold
18 July	On-site	4	2		3			9	67%
14 July	Manukau	10	2		15		1	28	43%
14 July	Shortland St	7			5			12	58%
15 July	Whangarei				1			1	0
15 July	Shortland St	7	4		15			26	42%
15 July	Pukekohe	2	1					3	100%
16 July	North Shore	12	3		14			29	52%
16 July	Shortland St	3	1		6			10	40%
17 July	Shortland St	3			3		1	7	43%
Total	All venues	48	13	0	62	0	2	125	49%

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47 Comments

by Brock Landers | 21st Jul 20, 10:21am 1595283662

Not even the "greatest economic shock in a hundred years" can put a dent in the New Zealand housing market.

Nothing to do with fundamentals. Everything to do with central bank manipulation.

by Averageman | 21st Jul 20, 10:24am 1595283898

Would have to say that is correct. Protect the banks at all costs, makes you wonder who is really pulling the strings in NZ.

by Masher | 21st Jul 20, 10:33am 1595284381

And of equal importance who has been.

by printer8 | 21st Jul 20, 10:43am 1595284990

Here we go again.
RBNZ conspiracy that actions are simply to protect banks, and equity and property markets.
Of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with maintaining economic stability and in particular protecting businesses and jobs.

by Rosenstein | 21st Jul 20, 11:12am 1595286759

Very few businesses cite borrowing costs as prohibitive to doing business. Yet the RBNZ lowers interest rates by 0.5%. And you think this is an action on the behalf of businesses? Now if only I could find another indebted group of NZers that would benefit from lower interest rates... yea nah... dunno aye.

by youngdumbandbroke | 21st Jul 20, 12:15pm 1595290509

I wonder how often they cite lease costs as prohibitive??

by blobbles | 21st Jul 20, 2:19pm 1595297959

I suggest you learn that capitalism means that businesses are allowed to fail, this means money is reinvested into the best companies who are the most productive. Yeah, that normal churn is part of a proper capitalist model. Any business can fail and others will rise from their ashes and do better. It's how the unproductive gets flushed from the system .

But we lost that some time ago. Banks are now too big to fail and know that, so will lend to anyone, regardless of fundamentals in the market or otherwise. It's created a situation where the RBs of the world now act FOR the banks, having acknowledged they will do "anything it takes" to avoid a recession. So no more capitalism, no more churn, no more innovation. The only game in town is capital appreciation from financialised assets. So zombie firms, unrealistic markets lacking fundamental values.

That's not a conspiracy, that's facts. You only have to look at what the RBNZ does as soon as the banks claim to be in the slightest bit of distress - removes all roadblocks for lending and decreases interest rates, a boon for the banks who can keep their financialised assets increasing in "price".

by rastus1 | 21st Jul 20, 12:40pm 1595292045

Amen to that comment. And we have a govt in hand with banks doing their best to keep house prices up, when a govt in the interest of the people should be doing the complete opposite.

And bdust to keeping prices up being necessary. The damage was all done on the way up, it's already done and built in - an economy/society cannot function with such stupidly inflated house prices.

by philip east | 22nd Jul 20, 7:38am 1595360315

Where does John Key work now ?

by Shoreman | 21st Jul 20, 10:49am 1595285371

BL - Yes the market is strong a huge disappointment for many on here. No doubt comments will be made that the crash will come in September with the wage subsidy, mortgage holiday ending etc. It will make no difference, buyers are jumping through high hoops to satisfy banks who are still protecting themselves from a mythical crash - responsible lending. Sometime next year they will ease up on their criteria and the market will gain more momentum.

by mikekirk29 | 21st Jul 20, 10:57am 1595285862

Please define word "market"
FHB market is anything but strong - see below

by Chairman Moa | 21st Jul 20, 10:31am 1595284292

We're setting sail to the place on the map
from which no one has ever returned
Drawn by the promise of the great housing scene...

(Ship of fools - World Party)

by printer8 | 21st Jul 20, 10:33am 1595284397

Rather than number of auctions and success rate, sale prices relative to RV is a better albeit rough benchmark to the sate of the market.
Surprisingly, looking at the sales information, most Auckland properties were selling above - and some well over - RV. That is consistent with pre-Covid and arguably even slightly better than 12 months ago.
The collapse of the market as predicted by many has yet to materialise.

by tothepoint - d… | 21st Jul 20, 12:22pm 1595290973

Hi printer8,

Ironically, the advent of Covid-19 (as dastardly as it is) has actually improved the long-term prospects for the NZ housing market.

NZ has become a country of choice for well-healed people from all corners of the globe.

Personally, I count myself very fortunate to live here...... Have absolutely no desire to live anywhere else.

TTP

by CourtJester | 21st Jul 20, 1:00pm 1595293203

Your comment shows you have no idea how immigration works.

by Houseworks | 21st Jul 20, 1:29pm 1595294973

Yes and I think we've been saying/thinking this for months. It does not pay to always go against the mob rule... on interest.co

by Nzdan | 21st Jul 20, 12:40pm 1595292027

Above a 2017 RV. A property selling for 10% above RV is not necessarily indicative of a healthy market, for all we know it could have achieved 15 - 20% above RV 6 months prior.

by Chairman Moa | 21st Jul 20, 11:25am 1595287542

I guess if I was Jacinda, I would not want to see a housing crash 60 days out of an election.

by mikekirk29 | 21st Jul 20, 10:56am 1595285794

This is what is happening in Auckland market: FHB are going down the toilet and the rich sail on.
In the last 4m, sales in the price bracket 650-850k fell 42% cf 2019 in same period
For price bracket 850-1.2m, sales fell 26%
For 1.5m - 2m, sales fell 15%
2m to 3m sales fell 7%
Over 4 minion sales fell 5.7%

Interestingly, in June 2020 cf 2019, lowest bracket above, sales fell 7.3%
Meanwhile, in the 850-1.2m bracket sales rose 19%
In 1.5 - 2m bracket sales rose 54%
In 2-3m bracket sales rose 48%
In 4m + bracket, sales rose 42%

So, basically, if you don't need a mortgage, all good

by iconoclast | 21st Jul 20, 11:08am 1595286498

No need of a mortgage implies down-sizing - selling and buying in the same market - not new buyers

by house hunter | 21st Jul 20, 12:12pm 1595290359

Can also imply one the following:
- cashed up Kiwis returning from overseas
- cashed up foreigners arriving via a category 2 visa or similar

by Sluggy | 21st Jul 20, 12:32pm 1595291528

for real ?

by house hunter | 21st Jul 20, 12:46pm 1595292365

Just pointing out some possibilities. Whether they are actually factors or not is unclear, but it's conceivable they may be contributing.

by CJ099 | 21st Jul 20, 12:32pm 1595291535

Yep funny that the sudden up trend in Auckland property sales has coincided with recent events in HK. CNBC news: Property developers rush to attract Hong Kong residents amid uncertainty over new law. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/13/property-developers-target-hong-kong-re…

by CJ099 | 21st Jul 20, 11:14am 1595286844

Things are going to get really interesting after the election. With our real economies are in decline, especially with one major one completely knock out of action; International Tourism. It will become more obvious where this money is coming from. I don't believe that it's just falling mortgage rates alone that are supporting the multi million dollar homes sales.

by Ex Expat | 21st Jul 20, 11:44am 1595288661

The sharemarket is doing the same. It’s hard to get precious metal coins. Bank deposits are paying next to nothing. An investment Rolex sold for $29,500 the moment it went on the market. Those with money want it in anything but TDs waiting for the OBR.

by Chairman Moa | 21st Jul 20, 12:19pm 1595290743

My neighbour sold his 70s Mercedes sport car almost three times what he paid for it.
This time last year his comment was "it is dead money!"

by Ex Expat | 21st Jul 20, 12:34pm 1595291665

He must have held it for quite some time. Apart from one car, the best I’ve ever done is lose the opportunity cost of the money.

by tothepoint - d… | 21st Jul 20, 5:39pm 1595309982

Hi CJ099,

You write: "Things are going to get really interesting after the election."

That would be true of every election there's ever been...... Hence, another worthless DGM comment.

TTP

by Believer1980 | 21st Jul 20, 12:27pm 1595291264

One of your underlying assumptions is that FHB buy in 650k-850k. That may not necessarily be true as some NZ FHB are professional immigrants who may be buying in higher price brackets. So without an actual analysis of house price brackets and number of FHBs this year and last year, you cannot dismiss the likelihood that there are FHB who are much more active in 850k-2m price brackets.

by mikekirk29 | 21st Jul 20, 12:51pm 1595292666

The assumption is pretty standard and also people buying at upper price brackets don't have to borrow anywhere near as much, or at all in most instances, so your argument is pretty weak. Point is: borrowing and lending by banks to the MOSTLY FHB in that lower bracket, is falling.

by Believer1980 | 21st Jul 20, 2:06pm 1595297206

You said that if you do not need to borrow, you are fine (which is a logical statement in itself) in your original post. But you have no evidence to back up your claim whether the increased activity in price bracket of $850k to 2m is not from borrowed money. Where does that money comes from then? it surely cannot be trade ups (as the activity in the lower level has decreased).
I have to agree that your evidence of less number of sales in the lowest price bracket does strongly indicate less lending to lower income/lower deposit buyers.

by Rob Reid | 21st Jul 20, 7:42pm 1595317376

It's not the whole picture of the above debate, but there are some stats here:
https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/c31

The top of the table indicates that FHBs have received 17-18% of the OVERALL new mortgage lending every month of this year (to May) and May 2018 and May 2019 were similar (~17%). But in terms of the HIGHER THAN 80% LVR lending, FHBs have received about 70% of the lending right through that 2 year period.
I'm not very familiar with these stats, but it does not look like there is a trend over the last couple of years in terms of the proportion FHBs make of lending. Of course, could easily change in second half of this year as credit seems to be tightening.

by Yvil | 21st Jul 20, 10:39pm 1595327943

"Over 4 minion sales fell 5.7%"

I always thought you were "Gru", where can I buy these minions, I'd love to have some, they seem more fun than your usual pet

by Wrong John | 21st Jul 20, 12:03pm 1595289837

We watch the rich get richer & the poor get poorer. If we can't find another way of justifying zero interest rates other than the poor home owners paying way over the odds for mediocre made buildings & we only spend on stuff when we feel wealthy (when our house prices are rising) then we have definitely arrived at the end game for this life cycle (1945-2025).

by RickStrauss | 21st Jul 20, 8:20pm 1595319623

And these asset speculating folk suck as hard as their little cheeks will allow on the redistributive teat while tut-tutting at poor folk receiving a hand-up.

by Believer1980 | 21st Jul 20, 12:07pm 1595290038

I guess the impact of net immigration on house prices in lagged a little bit. Most immigrants will rent for the first few years in the country. So as we had record high immigration in 2013-2019 period, it may not be totally crazy for house prices to hold at the moment as there is still a strong effective demand. While not a trivial percentage of new immigrants will be low income earners, still a considerable percentage have good income, probably some saving from the past and serious saving in the past few years (there is probably a big statistical different in their income and the average NZers).

It will be interesting to see whether in a couple of years, we actually start to see real surplus of good housing (with record high construction) and falling effective demand for houses (no immigration, less actual income for many households etc).

without significant change to immigration, the mid-term (3-7 years) look out of housing looks grim, but the impact of immigration in the past few years may hold demand for few months (or even a couple of years).

by richard1965 | 21st Jul 20, 12:11pm 1595290284

Like it or not but housing market at the moment is hot with no sign of consequence of a panademic.

Will it remain so in future ?

Should not but one can not say for sure seeing what QE has done to all asset class.

by theglc | 21st Jul 20, 12:42pm 1595292144

But all QE has done is help keep interest rates at an already low level.

There is no evidence to suggest that the money from the bond buying programme has found its way into the residential housing market at this early stage, unless you are able to enlighten us???

by house hunter | 21st Jul 20, 12:50pm 1595292632

Perhaps QE has resulted in a buoyant stock market, which in turn gives people who own stock the confidence to spend big on property. Does that sound more likely?

by mikekirk29 | 21st Jul 20, 12:49pm 1595292544

Terms like "hot" are not numerical nor accurate.
prices above $1.3m are rising, if that is what you mean.
A market is made up of sellers and buyers. Buyers are fewer than a year ago, except for those selling above $1.3m
On RE NZ, a full 33% average of what is listed is a new build or not finished. hence those properties are not being put OTM by an existing owner.
This fact is ignored by media. As is the length of time much of that one third has been OTM

by mikekirk29 | 21st Jul 20, 12:46pm 1595292369

Sorry to have to keep repeating for all those getting a tad excited about good June sales:

4m sales are down 31% in Auckland and 41% IN NZ excluding Auckland.
FHB sales are down 41% in Auckland (ie in bracket $650-850k) and down 7% in June
So, all is not fine and dandy with the "market" just because higher prices have gone higher to make those in a house they have paid for feel better.

by Due Diligence | 21st Jul 20, 2:06pm 1595297192

Lots of people holding off purchasing until the mortgage holidays stop later in the year because they’re speculating that this going to bring prices down. Wouldn’t be surprised if this influx of buyers counteracts the downward price pressure to some extent.

Edit to rile you people up - one of the benefits of speculation is price stability.

by Tillers | 21st Jul 20, 2:20pm 1595298059

I wouldn’t call a 50% clearance rate “good”. Pre Covid this was over 75% with much higher prices being achieved

by Ex Expat | 21st Jul 20, 4:34pm 1595306098

Where and when? The DGMs have rabbited on about poor clearance rates for years in Auckland. Here’s a link to a recent article which cites 2019 clearance rates https://www.interest.co.nz/property/106099/sales-achieved-46-properties…

by philip east | 22nd Jul 20, 7:35am 1595360112

With apartments there would be many trying to get out .

by philip east | 22nd Jul 20, 7:33am 1595360039

How would sales average out if the previous months were included ?