One-in-four sold under the hammer at Barfoot & Thompson's latest auctions

Property / news

The sun's come out but there's no sign of a spring bounce in the auction rooms yet

3rd Sep 22, 8:56am by Greg Ninness

There were some ups and downs at Barfoot & Thompson's latest auctions (27 August - 2 September) with slightly fewer properties on offer but slightly more selling under the hammer.

Sixty nine properties were offered at the latest auctions, down from 75 the previous week. sales were achieved on 17, up from 14 the previous week.

That pushed the overall sales rate to 25% from 19% the previous week.

However those numbers are still very low. and although we are now officially in spring, that's yet to translate to increased activity in the auction rooms.

The up and down nature of overall activity was reflected in the results for individual districts, with the sales rate for properties in Rodney dropping to zero at the latest auctions from 29% the previous week, while the sales rate on the North Shore improved from 20% to 36% - see the table below for the full district-by-district results.

Details of the individual properties offered at all of the auctions monitored by interest.co.nz, including the prices of the properties that sold, are available on our Residential Auction Results page.

The comment stream on this story is now closed.

You can have articles like this delivered directly to your inbox via our free Property Newsletter. We send it out 3-5 times a week with all of our property-related news, including auction results, interest rate movements and market commentary and analysis. To start receiving them, register here (it's free) and when approved you can select any of our free email newsletters.

We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment

Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.

35 Comments

by Nifty1 | 3rd Sep 22, 9:19am 1662153561

we are now officially in spring, that's yet to translate to increased activity in the auction rooms.

1st of September was on Thursday... auction campaigns take 3-4 weeks. Jumping the gun abit?

by BadRobot | 3rd Sep 22, 9:40am 1662154805

It's not as if people don't know when spring starts and if people were on the ball they would have started weeks ago preparing their marketing campaign - just saying......

by Nifty1 | 3rd Sep 22, 9:49am 1662155354

Yeah preparing to list their property in spring... which only just started on Thursday. Watch for a spike in listings in the coming weeks.

by Thats All Folks | 3rd Sep 22, 11:43am 1662162206

You just refuse to accept the fact people aren't playing the game anymore. (Other than a few cashed up greater fools)

Seasonality is irrelevant, until discounts become meaningful, people will happily let the market continue to fall on its face.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the short term wait throughout this demolition is well worth the 30 year savings 6 - 12 months from now.

There's no pressure on buyers and most don't have debt.

It won't be buyers blinking first, I would take high rates over a large mortgage any day.

Popcorn.

by Nifty1 | 3rd Sep 22, 11:55am 1662162944

Seasonality is irrelevant

Possibly the dumbest comment on real estate...

by Thats All Folks | 3rd Sep 22, 12:05pm 1662163535

You would desperately like to think so, in the context of the macro environment, the typical "seasonal trends" aren't exactly rocking anyone's world.

Let's just ignore the ridiculous amount of demand destruction that is only going to increase.

Why would anybody be dumb enough to buy into the eye of the destructive storm when there is so much more to come?

by Snow | 3rd Sep 22, 12:34pm 1662165252

Yep.

https://www.interest.co.nz/property/117238/government-working-group-con…

"In the context of restrictions to land supply, the key driver of house prices over the last 20 years has been the global decline in interest rates that significantly reduced the cost of debt servicing and increased home buyers' ability to pay," the report said.

The resulting increase in demand inevitably caused an initial lift in prices.

"Interest rates are a key driver of house prices," it said.

"It follows that the recent sharp rise in mortgage rates is the main cause of the recent decline in house prices, and are likely to dampen house prices further.

Not that much of a revelation though.

by Pa1nter | 3rd Sep 22, 10:36pm 1662201405

Why would anybody be dumb enough to buy into the eye of the destructive storm when there is so much more to come?

Sometimes people just buy things and the position in the cycle doesn't factor into their decision making.

That's usually most of the time, from the looks of it. It's rare people actually wait for a savings, rarer still that the waiters actually capitalise on their strategy.

by Nzdan | 4th Sep 22, 12:26pm 1662251212

Agreed. Most of us on here take an Interest in finances, but there's people out there who will be buying a house when a) the bank approves their loan and b) the vendor accepts their offer. They'll be looking at houses on their TradeMe watchlists, not hawk eyeing the mortgage interest rate movements on a daily basis.

by HouseMouse | 3rd Sep 22, 2:38pm 1662172718

I suspect he/she is suggesting it is irrelevant in the current economic context.

I wouldn’t agree it’s ‘irrelevant’ but I do think it’s less relevant in the current market than it has been when the market is buoyant.

by Thats All Folks | 3rd Sep 22, 3:23pm 1662175432

Thanks HM, yes maybe I (he) should have been more direct about that.

(Current conditions rendering seasonal trends near irrelevant)

by Idoubtit | 5th Sep 22, 11:31am 1662334266

Not as dumb as "Popcorn"

by Smudge02 | 3rd Sep 22, 12:57pm 1662166678

Interest rates have peaked and house prices have bottomed out.

Jumping the gun a bit?

by Dgm | 3rd Sep 22, 9:35am 1662154535

Such impressive numbers.

Would explain the rise in liquor sales.. celebrating or drowning in sorrows, I wonder

by General Comment | 3rd Sep 22, 10:39am 1662158343

One from 5 in the latest Hawkes Bay Bayleys auctions, with the only sale being a 110sqm 3 bed/1 bath '50s house in a "dress circle" spot in Havelock North that went for well below midpoint estimates on all but Corelogic's sites. Estimates on homes.co.nz in particular are well out of touch here now for standard housing.

by EarlyRiser | 3rd Sep 22, 11:34am 1662161672

Not auctions, but I note in my corner of Napier - Parklands - a heap of properties have sold in the last month, some had been on the market for 2 - 3 months, a couple of properties selling within 10 days or so of being listed which, all things considered, is pretty good. Could be a total anomaly, of course, to see these properties moving relatively fast.

by gnx | 4th Sep 22, 8:40am 1662237613

Bought for public housing?

by General Comment | 4th Sep 22, 6:43pm 1662273814

Kainga Ora has been snapping up land around Maraenui Park in Onekawa and Marewa.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hawkes-bay/128688639/kinga-o…

by Nellbell | 3rd Sep 22, 11:52am 1662162752

Homes.co is miles out too here in the Wairarapa. It shows prices still increasing, but houses as rule selling for a few hundred below Homes estimate. Most agents are not publishing prices instead leaving TBA on the sold notification and not adding the price in later. Does this effect their algorithm? I don’t like Homes at all, talking to an agent they say that a “ market appraisal” can be added to a house at any time, I asked who by, and of course the agents do the market appraisals I wonder if these then go into the mix to make the home estimates?

by 26@Main | 3rd Sep 22, 5:39pm 1662183543

Bought our house a few years ago and on homes.co.nz it still says price TBA. One of our theories is that similar houses in our area sold at the time for around $50k more than we paid for ours so the agent didn't put the price in as it could be seen as them not achieving a high price for it and could mean people may not choose to list with them. I'm sure there's also a connection between TBAs and price estimates - use TBA instead of inputting the low sold prices and it won't drag the price estimates down, although it seems many homes.co.nz price estimates are irrelevant in the current market anyway.

by Rob Reid | 3rd Sep 22, 3:12pm 1662174779

I think we can probably delete the "% Sold" column now. It's just going to randomly explode to 100 or collapse to 0 each week.

by Averageman | 3rd Sep 22, 4:54pm 1662180849

Normally more listings and sales in the sunnier months for many regions. The bottom line is who can afford to, and for those that can who wants to, pay 50% more that the 2015 purchase price just to fatten a speculators greed?

by rollo19 | 3rd Sep 22, 5:30pm 1662183052

Hi anyone know where I can get Auckland etc medians by week or month? I want to plot in USD terms :) won’t be pretty

by tuisbest | 4th Sep 22, 6:43am 1662230627

https://www.interest.co.nz/charts/real-estate/median-price-reinz

by kiwiguy | 3rd Sep 22, 5:31pm 1662183108

Any theories on why the north shore fairly consistently has the highest clearance rates?

by Carlos67 | 4th Sep 22, 9:58am 1662242319

You don't need a theory, its because people want to live there. It still has the not so nice areas but in general if you want decent schools and neighbors its pretty good.

by Zen20 | 4th Sep 22, 12:29pm 1662251363

Devonport

by 2 Tooth Bora | 3rd Sep 22, 6:20pm 1662186051

House prices in NZ relative to incomes are the highest in the OECD.

A ponzi scheme decades in the making; Estate agents and media hype tapping into the greed and fear of Kiwis psche. Ausi Banks dishing out cheap and easy debt, based on exadurated valuations / false equity and independent mortgage brokers fiddling the loan forms until the CCCF held them accountable, thats lead us to years of ridiculously high inflation.

Time for a long over due reality check folks.

Did you happen to see NZ imports exceeded our exports by some $3b - How are we ever going to pay all that ever increasing interest rate bearing tsunami of debt?

Let's hope China doesn't attack Taiwan I don't think we can afford to loose $130b worth of exports.

by Rob Reid | 3rd Sep 22, 6:53pm 1662188013

Yeah, that trade deficit is pretty ominous, especially with borrowing getting more expensive. The win/lose games like RE are kind of entertaining and good for the popcorn retailers, but we seem to have a growing underlying problem that is weakening the country's finances.

by Averageman | 3rd Sep 22, 7:54pm 1662191674

Indeed. Less income + higher cost of debt and no FHBer lifeboat to pass the risk to. What could go wrong...?

by Tee | 4th Sep 22, 9:36am 1662240996

An ode to 2022

7% mortgage interest by year end

30% drop in house prices

Come spring, its close

To both, he foresaw

by HouseMouse | 4th Sep 22, 11:49am 1662248958

It’s highly unlikely to be 30% by year’s end.

20%, perhaps.

by Carlos67 | 4th Sep 22, 3:19pm 1662261586

Really you just just accept its all in the hands of the FED and the RBNZ. If they signaled that we just had the last OCR rise then that would be the end of the house price falls.We are going to be dancing in tandem with the FED and the FED has signaled more rises but could turn on a dime if their economy crashes.

by NZGecko | 4th Sep 22, 4:08pm 1662264530

The problem is the FED can and will need to go much higher (USA housing/person debts are much lower than NZ) NZ is between rock and cliff edge.

We have no escape from this in NZ and best we can do is prepare, prepare and have significant cash reserves and low debt.

The writings been on the wall for this cluster, for those that chose to look, since 2021.

by Iceman | 5th Sep 22, 12:07pm 1662336433

As a long term observer of the comments on this site, it’s just funny reading most comments on here. 90% of people who comment on here are either a. Anti investors or b. Don’t own property. The negative talk and wishful thinking continues in a sellers and buyers market. Being a buyers market currently, its funny reading all the comments of “7% rates and 50% drops” to come by them. They’ve been wrong time and time again, you will literally learn nothing from reading these comments. The fact is - we are going through a correction as expected after an excellent period of growth. This is normal. The property market does also always slow down leading up to the elections. Watch how it will pick up again straight after the elections when sentiment changes and socialist labour are out. The other fact being - no government will want to run the property market into the ground as it is such a big part of the economy here. Period. So if they do, they will be risking their own position too besides the negativity will flow through the rest of the economy. Interest rates are also not high at the moment, they’re just back/heading back to normal levels. Immigration will pick up. About time someone sets the record straight and sorry to burst everyone’s bubble :p