Activity picking up at Barfoot & Thompson's auctions despite terrible weather

Property / news

A third of properties sold under the hammer at Barfoot & Thompson's latest auctions

18th Feb 23, 6:51am by Greg Ninness

Activity continues to pick up in Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms, in spite of the challenges presented by severe weather over the last couple of weeks.

The real estate agency, which is the largest in the Auckland market, auctioned 82 residential properties over the week from 11-17 February.

That's up from 68 properties the previous week and 27 the week before that.

Barfoot's latest Orders of Sale suggest their auction numbers will be even higher in the coming week, with February and March traditionally being the busiest months of the year for auction activity.

The agency's auction sales rate has also been steadily improving, with 26 of the 82 properties offered at the latest auctions selling under the hammer, giving an overall sales rate of 32%, up from 26% the previous week and 19% the week before that.

However prices remain soft.

Of the 26 properties that sold at the latest auctions, just three (12%) sold for more than their rating valuations while 23 (88%) sold for less than their rating valuations.

That was weaker than the previous week (4-10 February) when exactly a third of the properties that sold fetched more than their rating valuations and two thirds sold for less.

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

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64 Comments

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 7:04am 1676657055

Two weeks in a row. Not yet a trend though it certainly feels like things have changed. Its not to say it can't flip back if int rates get super ugly

by Retired-Poppy | 18th Feb 23, 7:30am 1676658607

What's wrong HW2? Have you given up on talking up rising rents as a leading indicator that a full blown recovery is imminent?

Green shoots? Here's one, term deposit rates are still on the rise for the patient savers. Prices are still trending down and the "wise" investor of yesteryear has fled the scene of their own creation.

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 7:12am 1676657546

The man wants pain via demand destruction. There's a lot of confidence to be vaporised yet.

by Retired-Poppy | 18th Feb 23, 7:14am 1676657698

Its not what I ever wanted to see.

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 7:18am 1676657886

I was replying to HW2.

The man being the authorities. Any investment or purchase involves a level of confidence, and the reserve banks are aiming to give that a good kicking.

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 7:34am 1676658899

"I get knocked down, but I get up again

You are never gonna keep me down

He drinks a Whiskey drink, he drinks a Vodka drink

He drinks a Lager drink, he drinks a Cider drink

He sings the songs that remind him of the good times

He sings the songs that remind him of the better times

(Oh Danny Boy, Danny Boy, Danny Boy)

I get knocked down, but I get up again...."

Good post Pa1nter. I see that Fhb have more confidence than investors... for now. I expect that will change, the ducks are lining up

by Retired-Poppy | 18th Feb 23, 7:58am 1676660298

"Fhb have more confidence than investors" - Naivety?

The full effect of fixed rate interest mortgage rollovers is yet to be felt. Regretfully, for a growing number, equity is vanishing along with viable sustainable financial solutions. As an aside, if the majority can still exit at a profit, the selling option remains attractive. Its going to get a lot worse. Its hard to see interest rate relief with persistent inflation.

A combination of whisky's, vodkas and hot showers first thing every morning is not the best solution :)

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 7:58am 1676660322

7:47 7:52 7:56

Any more revisions poppy

Edit: yes 7:57

by Retired-Poppy | 18th Feb 23, 8:03am 1676660587

Heaps, what about you? Have you been drinking again? Geeez, you do post some crap 😂

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 8:03am 1676660615

"Fhb have more confidence than investors" - Naivety?

Stands to reason. A FHB is more likely not to have gone through a period of economic downturn before.

by Amokk | 18th Feb 23, 8:40am 1676662854

Good old houseworks..... great to see your Chumbawamba approach to property investment - getting knocked down by reality but pretending it's all good with a drink in hand. Cheers to your delusion and keep it coming our little interest.co.nz spruiking friend.

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 8:59am 1676663942

Walked into that one 🤙

Am not saying anything much has changed for the better in terms of sales and prices.

I think you have to admit that there are cues out there, that anyone who is planning to buy should take seriously. Don't wait for more people to think the same way.

Its going to be a very interesting 6 months.

by ex agent | 18th Feb 23, 1:52pm 1676681552

Sure is. House prices and car prices are going to continue to drop for at least 6 months.

by Pragmatist | 18th Feb 23, 3:06pm 1676686000

I've heard 8000 cars were written off due to storm damage, that a big increase in demand right there, don't expect car prices to fall in the short term.

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 3:25pm 1676687143

Time to sell the 4 year old hybrid less than 90k mileage. Already bought something cheaper as a run about.

by Blackdog | 18th Feb 23, 9:53am 1676667208

mortgage brokers promoting 4.99% fixed 1 year

by hum | 18th Feb 23, 10:02am 1676667760

To be refixed at 8-10% next year, good luck with that.

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 10:06am 1676667985

Why not 27-53% ? Or any figure that fits what you would like the interest rates to be at ?

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 10:04am 1676667892

Really? That's very low! Do you know which bank this is through?

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 7:45am 1676659518

Its still a great time to buy. While others are still waking up and getting ready, the motorway is free and easy. But you know that within the next wee while it will be jumping

"Jump in the shower

And the blood starts pumpin'

Out on the streets, the traffic starts jumpin'

For folks like me on the job from 9 to 5"

by Harvey W | 18th Feb 23, 8:15am 1676661312

Prices will bottom out this year, rising by the end of the year, good time to buy.....

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 8:18am 1676661502

Everything hinges on how long the reserve banks will keep things high for.

Good luck guessing that.

by Alec | 18th Feb 23, 9:07am 1676664474

Might get a dead cat bounce but that’s about it.

They will hit the floor and the market will be stagnant for a long time. No need to rush or gamble where the bottom is.

As Warren Buffet would say, ignore the chatter and focus on the fundamentals.

A couple of weeks ago there was an article on this site that we are at record unaffordable levels. Nothing in the short term is going to change that. Interest rates are not going to rapidly go down, salaries are not going to rapidly go up. There is not going to be surge in competition.

The upside for taking gamble now with desperate seller, is still relatively small. Sure might be 20% or 30% below peak. But how much above the new equilibrium will it be (if at all)

by Pragmatist | 18th Feb 23, 11:25am 1676672744

Nothing in the short term is going to change that. Interest rates are not going to rapidly go down, salaries are not going to rapidly go up.

So you think the Fair pay agreement framework isn't going to kick wage inflation into an even higher gear? So far we have hospo, bus drivers and supermarket workers in the queue. Expect more once the first successful group gets a big bump.

As for rates.. They've dropped overnight before, its only a penstroke from Adrian away from happening again.

by rastus1 | 18th Feb 23, 8:34pm 1676705668

You can’t get blood out is a stone. Same payroll. Employers will just lay off staff.

by Pragmatist | 18th Feb 23, 8:58pm 1676707128

Can't lay off staff when you don't have enough to get the work done as it is, noticed all the bus cancellations lately? not enough drivers, and they are contracted to deliver a certain number of runs, so firing staff is not an option. Wellington bus is having to bring in 100 overseas drivers and train them up. Jump on seek and do a search for "new world", supermarkets are already short staffed, ditto for hospo, plenty of places with hiring now signs.

Hospo - Link ,

Bus drivers - Link,

But you can always put prices up to bring more money in to pay the staff you need to get teh job done.. what are people going to do, stop buying food?. Worst case, demand drops a little and you aren't so understaffed.

by Juzz | 19th Feb 23, 6:39am 1676741946

If low unemployment is driving more inflation, what makes you think RBNZ will drop interest rates?

by Rob Reid | 18th Feb 23, 8:35am 1676662554

Good on you, Kiwiland. We have woken up to unplayable infrastructure costs. We go house shopping. Now THATS confidence. Respect.

by Dgm | 18th Feb 23, 9:08am 1676664510

Only 1/3rd sold and 88% below rv (mostly well below the rv) and rate increase next week.. all pointing downwards for prices

by Juzz | 18th Feb 23, 9:47am 1676666846

To be fair, some of the new RVs are ridiculously high so not surprising sales are below those figures.

Still plenty of downward pressure though, I'm on the fence about a 0.5 or 0.75 increase. In saying that I think the sentiment going forward for rates will be for more increases to come and remain elevated for some time.

That reminds me, do I bother getting my pre-approval renewed of just wait till next year....

by Dgm | 18th Feb 23, 10:20am 1676668819

Hence I specifically stated well below RV.. knowing how ridiculous the rv's are

by nguturoa | 18th Feb 23, 9:16am 1676665016

NZ housing market is sucking in a lot of cash with buyers hoping that they will make gains and sell it later. Russian roulette?

People are generally putting what ever spare they have in the housing. The money is not going into any other investments in this country and that's not a very good on over all progress of the country.

On other developed countries families are encouraged to save for kids studying too and that results in investment in universities and colleges. That helps innovation and in turn prosperity for country with more educated individuals and entrepreneurs.

In this country we just want to buy a bigger house at an inflated price in the hope of selling it at more inflated prices in future.

The future is whole villages in Europe being sold for $1 because no one wants to live there.

When we do not keep it worth the next generation to live in the country, they leave.

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 9:36am 1676666203

Other things are being invested in, it's just the average layperson isn't usually involved, at best they might invest in shares but that's at the end of a long tail. In light of people starting their own business (where 80% or so of people will fail), you can see why housings seen as more attractive.

As for Universities, while I do value an education, it's becoming very marginal for a lot of people and societies whether the amount of tertiary education being undertaken is paying that high a dividend.

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 9:40am 1676666435

This week, I ended up selling the house for which I rejected an offer 2 weeks ago. It was to the same buyer for just a few thousand dollars more (not much). In the end , I think a fair deal for both vendor and purchaser.

by Dgm | 18th Feb 23, 10:21am 1676668914

Wow.. what an achievement.. c'mon guys open the champagne bottle.

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 11:00am 1676671203

Thanks DGM, it's nice to see you write a positive post!

by Dgm | 18th Feb 23, 2:37pm 1676684254

Whether they are positive or negative is your perception... the issue is that anything that refers to property prices dipping is categorized as negative by spruikers such as yourself

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 6:49pm 1676699369

I called your post positive because you were able to rejoice in someone else's success and you used words like "achievement" and "champagne" rather than being bitter, complaining and jealous. "Positive" had nothing to do with the RE market.

by Dgm | 19th Feb 23, 12:15am 1676718930

Jealous? You're clearly smoking something that's clouding your thoughts

by Pa1nter | 19th Feb 23, 1:10am 1676722211

This is what it sounds like

When doves cry

by Yvil | 19th Feb 23, 9:54am 1676753642

Why do you revert back to being angry DGM? BTW, I don't smoke, not tobacco, neither weed.

by Dgm | 19th Feb 23, 9:57am 1676753827

You seem to mix factual statements with your emotional feelings...

Grow up kid

by Yvil | 19th Feb 23, 11:38am 1676759899

And... you're back to being bitter and writing nonsense. It's a beautiful day, put a smile on your face and be happy :-)

by Dgm | 19th Feb 23, 3:45pm 1676774703

Thanks, shouldn't you be following your advice before dishing it out to others

You are an authoritarian for sure

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 10:48am 1676670490

Congrats. Any plans, just yay or nay will do

by Nifty1 | 18th Feb 23, 10:58am 1676671132

Is this the house you added a million dollars worth to by cutting down trees? Sounds like you did some price cutting too to sell...

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 11:05am 1676671521

Haha, no it's not that house. For clarification, I said that cutting the trees added about $500k, to be all up (with buying very well and other improvements) about $ 1 Mill.

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 11:02am 1676671350

Nay.

by Llama_360 | 19th Feb 23, 8:16am 1676747817

Congrats Yvil.

by Yvil | 19th Feb 23, 9:51am 1676753492

Thanks Llama

by Retired-Poppy | 18th Feb 23, 9:49am 1676666969

I can see an immediate future where Spruikers get overly excited with "cues".

Tepid interest from FHB's will be swamped out by persistent selling and continued price deterioration. Until there is substantial and sustainable interest rate relief alongside current levels of employment, any "cues" will likely turn out to be nothing more than "dead cat bounces in demand"

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 9:47am 1676666850

The great question is whether it's a matter of time.

Or is it the end of times.

*queue foreboding music*

People are going to be looking for cues everywhere.

by Retired-Poppy | 18th Feb 23, 9:54am 1676667251

ha-ha-ha, yeah. We've been there, seen this before and emerged out the other side re-educated - (albeit for a short time)

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 10:05am 1676667926

"Short time".

In farming, we expect to lose 1 crop from 7. No income. Then the other 6 of varying yields and rates, and hopefully the average is enough to generate a surplus.

It's been so long in the wider economy that people expect guaranteed security. I guess we'll see how much resilience has been added to our lending practises since the last one.

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 10:31am 1676669508

Resilience added to (housing) lending practices is massive. From what was the norm during pre gfc days. Accordingly the 2017 to 19 downturn was merely a whimper.

If anything I worry about corporate lending like 3b to Ryman healthcare (and others lurking in the shadows) and whether shareholders will fully subscribe their cash call.

PS I'm so confused whether you are a vegetable grower or doing construction. How well did you survive the attack of the 'clones

by Pa1nter | 18th Feb 23, 10:50am 1676670605

I have a couple of hats rather than everything in one basket. No cyclone here (Sth Island), but the high rainfall and lack of sun over summer will make for an interesting harvest period, lots of fruit, but it's going to take longer to ripen.

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 10:09am 1676668170

Great post RP

by HW2 | 18th Feb 23, 9:54am 1676667291

Cues to buy and queues to sell

by Yvil | 18th Feb 23, 10:10am 1676668206

That's a good come back too !

by mikekirk29 | 18th Feb 23, 10:48am 1676670491

32% of FA

by Three Veg | 18th Feb 23, 5:19pm 1676693954

Very poor result given vendors have finally been adjusting their expectations closer to where purchasers are at. Shows reductions are still too little too late.

by DDH | 19th Feb 23, 6:12pm 1676783552

Yes, that's what I thought. We're in peak buying season, you would expect an uptick especially with vendors having a better understanding of market realities than a year ago.

Quality (in design and/or price) will always sell, so 40% should be a minimum at this time.

The floods will bring inflation. Just when we were getting on top of demand and you could see that building companies would be starting to get squeezed, off we go again.

The fundamental problem for houses is they have inflated in price to beyond the ability for people to buy them at anything more than 3% interest rates, and those rates are not going to be anywhere close to that in the next 12 months unless there is a proper recession. Which doesn't really look very likely at all

by Davo36 | 19th Feb 23, 9:11pm 1676794263

Vendors are possibly more prepared to meet the market?

Especially those with clifftop properties? Or below a ridge? Or by a river?

Too soon?

by Speedmax | 20th Feb 23, 3:01am 1676815291

No, because there will not be a market for those properties