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Residential auction activity off to a slow start for 2023 with three quarters of properties passed in

Property / news
Residential auction activity off to a slow start for 2023 with three quarters of properties passed in
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Real estate auction activity got off to a quiet start to 2023 with just one in four properties selling under the hammer and the rest either being passed-in, postponed or withdrawn from sale.

Interest.co.nz monitored the auctions of 109 residential properties over the week from 27 January to 3 February, located from Orewa in the north to Gore in the south.

Of those 109 properties, 27 sold under the hammer giving a sales rate of 25%.

Of the properties that sold, eight (30%) sold for more than their rating valuations,18 (67%) sold for less than their rating valuations and one could not be matched with a rating valuation.

It is usually mid-February before auction activity starts hitting its stride, but the auctions have got off to a difficult start this year with extraordinary weather in the upper North Island hampering normal sales activity in many places.

The auction results over the next couple of weeks should give a better indication of how the market is shaping up for the rest of the summer season.

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

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65 Comments

Nine sold at auction in Manukau & Papakura, all at discounts to RV

Four sold at discounts to RV less than 5%

One sold at 9% discount to RV (but was $195k down)

Two sold as 22-23% discount to RV ($237k, $525k down)

One sold at 43% discount to RV ($565k down)

One sold at 48% discount to RV ($480k down, but was fire damaged so no surprise).

Some chunky losses to previously perceived value there!

 

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Reality is biting now.   Very high percentage passed in had no bids, not even insulting ones.

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17

What’s an insulting bid? Pulling the finger at the auctioneer at the same time?

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14

Going once, going twice goi.... 🖕..

 

See you post auction... With conditions... And a low ball offer!

 

 

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64% increase from the sales volume a few months ago. I remember seeing 16%.

We could do with a bit of this:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/property-grab-afp-smashes-alleged-1…

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Not catastrophic, only appalling (T. Alexander)

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That was Barfoot only now they are reporting all NZ wide auctions, if you have a sniff at the Barfoot only numbers you may well find its worse now than back when it dipped below 10%.    They had a really bad week.    So as a series its composition has changed.

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4

I have been saying this for a long time. But no government agency in NZ bothers do any investigation.

How is it possible that so many couple who immigrated in last 7-8 years from some countries which are highly populated able to buy 1.2 + million houses on average salaries. Even saving 20% is a huge task for properties worth 1.2 to 1.5 mil.

Something is not very straightforward in how RE agents work in this country.

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Yes it’s a bit curious at times. Pooling of money between several related family members?

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If the money comes in, it has either to be legitimate with tax paid on it somewhere and that also how much can be moved in a financial year between borders. Also how big can be cash gifts?

Makes me wonder.

But i guess our financial institution with government oversight turn a blind eye to funds coming in. Makes us feel rich as told by some politicians publicly. 

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Yeah, I don’t know.

I guess if there are 3 or 4 related individuals here in NZ then that’s quite a bit of income to pool, even if each individual is only on a middle income.

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Yeah a bit different to the western way.

Some family groups band together and one group will pay the mortgage for five years then onto the next. So siblings,parents, grandparents etc.

For the other, audits for money laundering is weak here in NZ. Evident I guess from the lack of news about it.

I swear Godfrey's is a money laundering business (/s).

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Yep, for the other highly suspicious of plenty of money laundering. Seen so many instances where things don’t stack up.

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Immigrants from other countries are usually not the 'average' folks of that country. They are typically more skilled, more motivated and at the very least more organised (considering that you need to wade through forests of paperwork and jump through hundreds of hoops to emigrate) than those who don't have the option to emigrate.  Immigrants are also generally wealthier than average in their home countries, as emigration is expensive.

This is reflected in the fact that immigrants from countries with similar work practices who are well-versed in English (such as South Africa, the UK the US and Europe) on average earn more than Kiwis.

In 2018, the average hourly wage of a migrant from South Africa was 15.4 per cent higher than the average non-migrant wage
- source: https://diversityworksnz.org.nz/media/5026/migrant-pay-gap-narrative-re… 

Many immigrants with modest lives in NZ would have had privileged lives or even elaborate lives had they chosen to stay where they were. Yet, they were attracted by NZ's low crime (certainly true in the case of South Africans), better work-life balance (the case for many Asian immigrants) or a 'better' government in some way (I'm thinking 'America', 'Africa', 'China'..), etc.

Why are you surprised that many immigrants can afford an average NZ house?  (Especially considering how the 'average NZ house' measures up to houses in the rest of the world?)

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No offense sir, the topic here is money laundering not how rich they and how much they can afford. But thanks for your explanation. It does provide some insight into the rich life of immigrants. 

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My point is that some immigrants will have savings from having earned good salaries in their countries of origin.  They might also be earning more than you think.

But your point on money laundering is also valid.  Kiwis tend to be way too trusting.  The level of depravity in some societies is pretty unfathomable here in NZ - I want to add 'thank goodness'.  But is important to realise that this is not the case everywhere.  Take this s%&$show for example: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49759392 

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But most immigrants don’t come from those countries, and most immigrants are not highly skilled and high income earners.

Btw many of the recent South African immigrants that I know, at least, are renting and can’t afford to buy. It was quite literally a life and death escape from that country. Better to be here and renting than owning a house in Africa with the daily threats to existence.

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I think most immigrants in NZ come from the UK?  Or at least used to. 

But the original poster did mention 'highly populated' countries, so he probably didn't refer to Poms.  He's probably right about the NZ government being hesitant to say no to money flowing into NZ, regardless of the source.  Sad really, if that's the case.  Then again, if it's helping to inflate/sustain the NZ housing ponzi then who is going to intervene?  Would the government also consider that a "good problem to have" and turn a blind eye to the long-term impact on society?

Recent immigrants from South Africa are pretty screwed and, as you say, little more than refugees from a country where human life has become completely worthless.  Never discuss crime with a South African unless you're ready for a few stories that would knock your socks off and rip your guts out.

The exchange range for the South African Rand is pathetic.  I think you pay more than R11 for one NZ dollar at the moment?  Those who emigrated as little as twenty years ago paid something like R3 for a NZ dollar, I believe (ready to be corrected) - so they'd probably have brought across much more savings. 

Still, considering the South African circumstances, you'll get very rich families emigrating knowing that they'll lose most of their wealth in the process and end up barely affording an average NZ house.

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No, by far the most immigrants come from India and China.

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That's a common perception in NZ. But the data from the 2018 census might surprise you, HouseMouse. Here are the top ten countries of origin for overseas-born NZ residents:

  1. England: 210,915
  2. Mainland China: 132,906
  3. India: 117,348
  4. Australia: 75,696
  5. South Africa: 71,382
  6. Philippines: 69,036
  7. Fiji: 62,310
  8. Samoa: 55,512
  9. South Korea: 30,975
  10. United States:    27,678    
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But what about migration over the past few years?  I am talking about recent / current migration. I thought India /China have been the two biggest sources now and over recent years?

There was a lot of immigration from England from 2001 - 2007. And then historically England had been the largest source from the 1970s.

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Good question.

The stats for the 2021 residence visa applications (following the controversial "let's make 165,000 families eligible to apply" decision) shows India being way ahead.  Interestingly, there were almost twice as many applicants from India as from China.

Number of applicants from:

  1. India: 69,594
  2. Philippines: 47,304
  3. China: 35,451
  4. South Africa: 31,248
  5. UK: 10,470

source - https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/immigration/300600384/one-country-lags… 

 

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Shocking number of South Africans, by the way, if you consider that China has 1.4 billion people and South Africa under 60 million (although how accurate that figure is, is anyone's guess). 

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The bank of mum and dad dude

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Good point. Chinese families have only had one child for decades. Everything mom and dad earned ends up in junior's account sooner or later.

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NZ media not very interested either.

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Paper becomes vapor. Wail till the next OCR increase in Feb 23.

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People will be wailing after then still.

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New year,  old story,.. everything falling except OCR..

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The asking prices are still so high. I still can't believe RE agents and sellers are expecting buyers to pay prices which they could afford at 2% interest rates.

The geriatric generation has really made life impossible for the young to live in this country. No matter RAM raids are increasing by the day.

NZ society has failed the next generations. Hope this greed stops now

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The greed certainly won’t stop, it’s deeply embedded in this country’s culture. More so than any other western culture, in my opinion.

 

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I've lived and travelled in a few countries and have not encountered the NZ obsession with "getting ahead" anywhere else.  "Doing well", sure.  "Being comfortable", even "being well-off", certainly.  But "getting ahead", implying you want to be better off than those around you, might be a Kiwi thing (or could also be common where I've not been).  Whatever the case, it is not doing NZ society any favours.

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Exactly. As a generalisation, I think an awful lot of self interest exists in NZ. 
I lived in Aus for a few years, and again as a generalisation there just seemed to be less of a self interested edge there. Neoliberalism never advanced as far there as it did here, from the 1980s.

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It's not that they want to get ahead of others it's that they want to move ahead from where they are now. Move to a better location, advance one's career, that sort of thing.

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WTF!?!?!..

 

greed doesn't live in a vacuum bro!

it takes idiots to make greed a thing!

🛑 STOP paying over the top for things!!

electricity is a classic example!... We didn't have damp cold houses when electricity was cheap and "non privatized"....  Now it to expensive because all the retail competition is being controlled by the generators monopoly! And what do the commerce com do?

​​​​Don't accept ridiculous price increases!

protest 🪧 at this dumb govts dumb "inflation increasing" policies and  taxes!

 

stop the expensive " green initiatives" that achieve nothing accept higher costs!...  And make no difference to world emissions 

 

greed is justified when you see dumb poor folk playing pokies, vaping, drinking beer, and driving big V8s..

 

40+% of this country votes for poverty and greed when they vote labour! And sometimes  national 

 

​​​​​​

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The greed was from the banks and the politicians. Please don’t keep lumping the blame by age, many of us are older and wiser and never bought into the BS housing market and the fake economy.

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But we vote for the politicians right? And primarily over the last 20 years we have voted in governments that have done very little to address the property ponzi. So really, it’s ‘us’. And a large proportion of ‘us’ has been the baby boomers, demographically speaking. 
 

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Went to an open home of a new townhouse (1 of 4) in my street on Epsom/Three Kings border yesterday. Finally finished more than 3 years after the Chinese developers bought the section for $1.8mil. 
The property was 195m2 on a 245m2 section, had no pantry (guess you had to put all your food in drawers), the double garage was so small you wouldn’t be able to access the laundry with 2 cars parked in there, only outdoor space was a 5x3m deck and the cupboards/wardrobes were fitted out to bare minimum with huge voids to sort out yourself. Price expectation is from $1.8 mil!!!

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Place on my street in Tauranga finally just showed the sell price on Holmes, still went for quite a bit more than they had in valued at and true to form, their revised valuation is suddenly the same as the sold price. Properties here are still not back down to the July 21 RV's.

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Yes this is why so many of us can see another 20% easy,  then we are at pre covid, which was overvalued by 20-30%     once we start to see a few - 4/5/6 % months you will know seller capitulation is here

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Regions always trail Awk and Welly to quote TA. Stats do support that so take it as you will. Accordingly 2023 will be the year the regions have a 20-40% bubble pop. After all...its hard to splash large in the regions if you cannot sell large in a main centre, and debt is 3x the price it was if you qualify on reducing equity.

 

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Exactly, the regions are going to get smashed in 2023, many will fall 15-20%. 

I think Auckland only has about another 10% to fall.

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you are so wrong nothing is selling here its still way too expensive

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"Nothing is selling"

Even though, Barfoot and Thompson sold over 430 homes in January, a seasonally quiet month.

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Tick Tock       Tick Tock       I can smell the fear......      buyers can as well, and they are waiting.   

You should take up fly fishing HW2, would teach you a lot about patience and watching your prey.

Its all about presentation of your offer.....   

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by IT GUY | 2nd Feb 23, 10:43pm

 my partner tells me we could be a lot richer if i would just listen to her more, she is very good at seeing the bottoms, I excel at seeing the tops in property.     I am also in charge of the finance

Your partner picks the bottoms and is grumpy you won't listen. Living with you she needs the patience of a saint. Careful that it isn't you getting a divorce and left with craters in your balance sheet 

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She used to flip 30 props a month, and she thinks things are nuts needs to fall 50%.......     

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Yes, back into it for the new year. Things are still up in the air for many & what will play out this election year is [for me] also up for grabs.

The current Govt's thinking & decision-making is woefully inadequate & sub-par beyond imagining, but this is true of many other western nations. As posted above already, we seem to have quite an aggressive form of neo-liberalism in NZ, but as one who has also worked abroad for many years, I can tell you that Kiwis were well sort after for their business smarts & their hard-working nature. When I first came back, I was quite shocked at how lazy a lot of Kiwi workers had become, which was good for me, as that meant I only had to work hard to get ahead. I was never academic or gifted in any way. I was just a worker who took a few risks & finally got lucky with a couple of projects later on in my working life.

NZ is still a great land of opportunity but many who have lived here forever don't see that. There is space, jobs & a great life on offer, if you focus on what you're doing & then get on & do it. The govt is a waste of space so don't listen to everything they tell you as most of it is s....

Just do your job, keep your eyes open & the opportunities will be there. Build your relationships, stay married, have a large family & enjoy their company often. And stop listening to the stupid politicians.

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Most of the people who purchased this week will see property price’s falling over next number of years must of had good reason to buy now.

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Fomo. 

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Perhaps they wanted to live in a house

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Why pay through the nose for a Awkland shitbox that has a high risk of getting flooded and potentially further reduction in value.

 

2017 valuations are coming.

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Why is no one talking about the impact of demographics on supply? I went to 5 open homes today, 2x deceased estates, 2x moving into retirement homes and 1x older person downsizing. Coincidence or not?

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These are the have to sells, like divorce etc    they most like to met market, 

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45 "deceased estate" across auckland SC

12300 others

35 "moving retirement village" throughout Auckland supercity 

12300 others

Get in!

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Is that based on information on the listing? None of those i went to had anything like this written online. But get the story from the agent (also fairly obvious by the furniture if its older people)

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Open the wardrobes its obvious re divorce

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I like buying from deceased estates because there is usually a lot of potential to renovate and improve. 

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Divorces are great as each side only has to accept about 1/2 the loss

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One sad outcome of divorces and separations is doubling of demand for family accommodation without population growth. One family requires 2 homes not one.

Family breakdowns come at horrible cost 

 

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Your logic is flawed there, both want as much as possible because 1/2 each generally doesn't buy two houses and if it does that's a big downgrade. The reason they are likely to sell faster as they now hate each other so they want a fast sale. Totally depends on the level of hate. I know of people still living together that were divorced because they couldn't face the downgrade or one just didn't want to sell and was holding out on a fictitious price. Many divorces can get very complicated.

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Nah its true 50k each is better then 100k together trust me ......       a man also often only gets 40-45% he cares even less re the loss

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4048 trademe auckland rentals available 

It wasn't that long ago the number was 5300 plus.

As Housemouse kindly reminds me "for now"

 

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Labour is so desperate to be re-elected  and they only have one trick, doling out cash incentives..  this latest one in the form of ASUP

Accommodation supplement under fire for not keeping up with rents and causing financial hardship
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/accommodation-suppl…

 

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"3/4 of property passed in".

People were telling me over the last 10 years, prices keep going up because of demand and new builds not being able to keep up with that demand.

So, what are those people saying now?

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