Pick up in activity at the latest property auctions

Property / news

Just under half the properties on offer were sold under the hammer at the latest auctions

1st Jul 23, 6:00am by Greg Ninness

There was a pick up in activity at the latest residential property auctions although the sales rate remained unchanged.

A total of 214 properties were offered at the auctions from throughout the country monitored by interest.co.nz in the week of 24-30 June, up from 167 the previous week.

Of those, 100 were sold under the hammer, giving an overall sales rate of 47%. That's unchanged from the previous week.

In the Auckland Region the sales rate was within a hair's breadth of passing the halfway mark at 49%. However, there were wide variations across the region, with Franklin having the lowest sales rate at 11% and Manukau the highest at 66%.

Canterbury had the highest sales rate of the week with exactly two thirds of the properties offered at the auctions there that were monitored by interest.co.nz selling under the hammer.

Prices remained generally subdued with two thirds of all the properties sold fetching prices that were below their rating valuations, while in Auckland three quarters of sales were for less than their rating valuations.

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

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91 Comments

by Flying high | 1st Jul 23, 6:18am 1688149093

Waikato gone from hero to ZERO. 8 homes put up, not even one sold

Actually the region is leading, Shows where we're about to go

by Hawkes Bay | 1st Jul 23, 7:16am 1688152564

Into The Bowels Of The Abyss.

10% Interest Rates This Year, Guaranteed !

by Speedmax | 1st Jul 23, 6:30am 1688149856

Almost half of vendors realised where market now is, ie mostly well below RV. Prices will continue falling as more 2021 fixers move to higher rates, there is less spending in the economy, and labour market softens

by Blackdog | 1st Jul 23, 8:38am 1688157535

people need to get on with their lives, relocate, upsize, downsize, whatever.

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 9:46am 1688161586

Yes they do, just the $ amount of those transactions will continue to fall.

by nguturoa | 1st Jul 23, 7:15am 1688152518

Manukau 66% success.. I guess vendors getting rid of their crap and slum houses as their value will go down more and more in coming months and years.

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 7:21am 1688152873

A success rate is going to be more impacted by the demand for an area than people's desire to sell out of it.

by Flying high | 1st Jul 23, 7:33am 1688153595

The beautiful Coromandel is not the ideal place to be living in and commuting from if you ask me. Hilly unstable land ain't no fun travelling. Those rich wealthy kiwis owning houses bwahaha

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 7:35am 1688153724

Living in paradise so you can commute to the big smoke sounds like an exercise in masochism

by Baywatch | 1st Jul 23, 8:32am 1688157178

Commuting 1 day a week...not so onerous especially living with a Seaview and peace and quiet...priceless

by Flying high | 1st Jul 23, 9:22am 1688160123

Waka are waiting for more land to slip north of waiomu/ruamahunga. Leaves only one road, SH25 and a 4 or 5 hour nauseating trip from coro town to get off the peninsula. SH25 on the eastern side is pretty rugged too with slips and washouts.

I wouldn't waste my money buying here, and I urge property owners to sell up. Others I know sold at the peak and aren't regretting it. Some big name media and political suckers bought in Tairua in the last year or two. PS I'm not in cooro town

by Nzdan | 1st Jul 23, 10:17am 1688163428

Likewise on the 1 day to the "big smoke". Not a Seaview here, but the multiple Tui that inhabit the massive oak tree visible from my office bi-fold window and the general peace and quiet more than make up for the once per week 4 hour return commute.

by Nellbell | 1st Jul 23, 7:35am 1688153742

Not so sure about that, buyers have been around in most areas. The lack of sales has been because of the vendors. As with most things the price is the key.

by Smudge02 | 1st Jul 23, 7:41am 1688154064

I imagine there are plenty of over leveraged out there hanging on by the skin of their teeth waiting for Luxon & Co to come to their rescue later this year.

by nguturoa | 1st Jul 23, 7:48am 1688154533

National needs to improve on their leadership and policies if they want to come back to power. It's looking slim at the moment.

by Colin Cameron | 1st Jul 23, 8:49am 1688158152

Just to give you an idea on polls and how you shouldn't believe them. David Cameron when PM of UK had the pollsters tell him Remain in the EU is guaranteed from last election with the amount of voters you and the remain group will beat the exit group. Two things they didn't allow for one over a million more voters turned out compared to the general election. Two alot of the people that the pollsters contacted lied saying yes we will want to remain yet in the booth and alone voted exit. Chris Trotter are regular contributer here talked about this effect and even stated himself as a staunch Labour die hard will not be voting for them this time and stated he knows alot of die hard labour supporters who won't be. So don't believe those polls

by Zwifter | 1st Jul 23, 9:45am 1688161536

Yep I'm still picking a National/ACT landslide. The timing will be perfect for National, Petrol prices just went up and all those mortgages now rolling over into the RED. Ultimately people vote with their wallets.

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 9:51am 1688161908

Most people are not investors or landlords though, and those that are were already supporters. So where are they getting new votes from?

Doesn't the public transport subsidy end today? could be wrong about the date but that would be inflationary nonetheless.

by Beanie | 1st Jul 23, 10:45am 1688165110

I wouldn't necessarily bet on a National/ACT landslide, but I would on the worst Labour disaster for decades.

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 11:04am 1688166268

In the past I have voted based on what I thought was best for the country as a whole at the time, this year my vote will be a selfish one and for financial reasons that I cannot disclose. I have voted for Labor and National before, but this year I will vote for Labor as will many in my circumstance. This decision has very little to do with interest deductibility but it does factor into it as it's what's best for New Zealand and future generations of Kiwi's.

by live4ever | 1st Jul 23, 12:24pm 1688171045

Agree that National need to pick up their game and pull their head out of the sand and look to the future. Their environmental and land regulation policies are like something like from the 00s. Surely we need to move beyond farming and who cares about tax cuts when our health sector is in such dire straits. I used to vote national but am struggling to find any positives. Unfortunately will still have to vote for them due to the interest deductibility rules for rentals. If Labour did an U-turn or even an adjustment to these, it would be bye bye National.

by agnostium | 1st Jul 23, 5:05pm 1688187948

National received "$2.3m from 24 wealthy donors last year".

When you owe that much money to a few individuals you don't think they'll want something in return? This National party are in the pockets of the super-rich and are there to protect the super-rich's interests not New Zealanders. That's why their policy platform stinks and people are seeing through them.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/national-gets-500000-in-a-large-…

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 7:58am 1688155135

I imagine there are plenty of over leveraged out there

There's definitely 'some'. 'plenty' is a hard word to quantify. Thousands? 10s of thousands?

by Nellbell | 1st Jul 23, 8:26am 1688156795

Let’s say there are “enough”. Where I am the the market standoff is not from lack of buyers or offers, but rather it stems from vendors hoping to achieve old prices ( 2021). As that price expectation moves, so will the market.

We have large jam ups here in our market. Lots and lots of properties listed and some buyers have made conditional deals at the higher prices but have then failed to achieve a high enough price for their own properties so everything stops. Vendors are then reinforced with their price expectations, but no sales are happening. Almost every house we are looking at has a conditional deal sitting in the wings. This has been going on for over 8 months, many languish with old prices most get taken off the market. Buyers like us just wait… because nobody “has” to buy.

Don’t worry change of government will fix it all (sarc.)

by IT GUY | 1st Jul 23, 8:39am 1688157572

have friends in this situation, they think between 250-400k lower in the 1.5 mill market and things would move ie 1.5 ask accepts 1.25

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 8:33am 1688157221

It would be interesting to know what % of the market is people trading from one house to another. What you've said mirrors what I'm seeing and hearing, there's a lot of people wanting to upgrade/downsize/relocate, and that whole process is reliant on quite a few ducks lining up. But at the same time, most of those people don't have a huge sense of urgency.

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 9:53am 1688162018

I'd say there are more over-leveraged than there are those willing and able to buy.

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 8:12am 1688155934

Increased clearance rates is one thing, increased sales volumes together with rising prices is something else altogether. Then there's the all important factor - sustainability.

Another massive and coordinated Spruiker push coming using fudged figures alongside a low volume dead cat bounce powered along by the naive is the best of it. Yes, buying at todays prices, one has no choice but to view equity building along side happy home ownership for the looooooooong term!

by nktokyo | 1st Jul 23, 8:40am 1688157621

Wellington picking up quickly according to a few mates who are agents. Much more at open homes, more competition etc. Will be interesting to watch if this flows into listing's volume, which is what has kept Wellington as the only city to avoid rent jumps. It won't flow into any stats in the news for a few weeks or months but that's the here and now.

by Colin Cameron | 1st Jul 23, 8:54am 1688158471

While that's great Wellington central city is a dogs breakfast and has lost its appeal as the coolest capital tag. That council is a bunch of twats and that is a kind word. To me it has along way to change before I would even consider going there also if big if National/Act get in less civil servants less 3 waters pigs at the trough based in Wellington. But only my view

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 10:00am 1688162457

The weather was really good last weekend in Welly and I did notice more people at open homes, and more nosey neighbors than usual but still an increase in buyers and tyre kickers. The houses on the market are generally lipstick on a pig type, the odd good quality home is selling quickly but very scarce and above the $750 FHB cap. The better half will be out tomorrow kicking more tyres while I'm at work.

by pigeonbox | 1st Jul 23, 11:39am 1688168380

I suspect open homes in Wellington are busier now simply because, after three years, home ownership is actually feasible for many FHB's - you can nab a lovely little 3 bedder rotbox with no parking for 850k, vs 1.2m at peak.

It's not a change in sentiment (and implied recovery), just a consequence of falling prices reaching a certain threshold.

It's still an awful deal in most cases.

by agnostium | 1st Jul 23, 1:14pm 1688174062

"Wellington picking up quickly according to a few mates who are agents. Much more at open homes, more competition etc. Will be interesting to watch if this flows into listing's volume, which is what has kept Wellington as the only city to avoid rent jumps. It won't flow into any stats in the news for a few weeks or months but that's the here and now."

Sure it is

by IT GUY | 1st Jul 23, 8:40am 1688157637

Much of the vendor reluctance to lower prices stems from property being their only major asset class and needing every last cent for the retirement fund......

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 9:01am 1688158900

I think it's more the basic human desire to buy things for as little as possible and sell them for as much as possible.

Price is people's main way of determining 'value'.

by Nellbell | 1st Jul 23, 9:03am 1688158995

Totally agree IT Guy, the houses we are looking at are almost all larger with older vendors needing to move on. So like us they don’t absolutely have to sell and have enough reinforcement from past (fallen over) offers or the media to just hold on. We even have a couple of houses that are on the market as a result of separation/divorce, but they too languish with inflated prices. Hard for them all to give up their “fictitious wealth”.

by Flying high | 1st Jul 23, 9:09am 1688159340

Vendors are getting older by the day and the booomers are heading to old persons homes. Yay those shares are up.

by nktokyo | 1st Jul 23, 8:43am 1688157804

I'm not sure why anyone in their right mind would be selling at auction in this market.

by Nellbell | 1st Jul 23, 9:08am 1688159280

Because they need a quick sale?

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 9:12am 1688159549

Because they trust their agent - YIKES!

by Nifty1 | 1st Jul 23, 9:28am 1688160521

Well if they're reading interest.co.nz comments they could think that property prices are going to zero...

by nktokyo | 1st Jul 23, 9:35am 1688160904

You'd be mad to buy a house before they start to pay you to take it away

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 9:50am 1688161830

Nifty1, unless you can prove otherwise, interest.co membership and associated comments come from random cross section of our society. It's easy to see why you're so rattled.

by Nifty1 | 1st Jul 23, 10:07am 1688162841

There's the same 5+ people that flood the comments with same anti spruiker rhetoric daily... If you have an opposing view you get attacked by this mob. I'd say 'the random cross section of society' don't comment, certainly not daily on every article...

by Zachary Smith | 1st Jul 23, 9:54am 1688162092

You're not wrong.

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 10:10am 1688163057

I could name at least 5+ where its more about poor timing, accompanying debt levels and grievances. Its just a forum.

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 10:26am 1688163976

There's definitely nothing random about the user base here. It's actually the opposite, a fairly specific and concentrated grouping.

by Nzdan | 1st Jul 23, 10:21am 1688163692

You don't have to be so salty about. Oh no, somebody on an anonymous internet forum argued your view. So what?

Here you go🩹 Tell us where it hurts.

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 10:28am 1688164106

If someone was seriously interested in investing, economics and making money from money, many of the attitudes and thought processes in here represent the exact opposite of that approach. Ideologies overrule sound critical thinking.

by Nzdan | 1st Jul 23, 11:19am 1688167198

If someone was seriously interested in investing, economics and making money from money they'd just get on with it and not let some random moniker on a website cloud their judgement or rattle their emotions.

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 11:27am 1688167637

Sure, and at the end of the day, who really cares. But if the site's value is in an information source for people to make sound judgements (you know, as listed in their moniker), some of the antics are akin to trying to go to work on "bring your insufferable 4 year old to work" day.

by Nzdan | 1st Jul 23, 12:04pm 1688169844

We all care otherwise we wouldn't bother commenting on this site. But you can care and take an interest without having a meltdown because some people disagreed with what you said. They would be a better fit for the "4 year old" label. Although I shouldn't be too harsh I don't know what's going on in their personal lives, they might not have access to the counselling they need.

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 12:40pm 1688172033

If this kitchen is too hot to handle, its good to know that residence here is not mandatory :)

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 1:43pm 1688175833

It's less about the heat, and more about the smell.

Maybe cut down on the cucumber sandwiches.

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 2:56pm 1688180193

Well there are other kitchens for serial complainers...

Karen?

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 10:47am 1688165233

So now the user base is rigged? It’s not fair! (toys thrown)

Subject to the acceptance of my membership here, I don't recall having to complete any in-depth questionnaire on my personal approach to investing. Did you?

edit.

by nktokyo | 1st Jul 23, 11:12am 1688166724

Right on cue...

by Nzdan | 1st Jul 23, 11:18am 1688167122

It's just pixels on a computer screen bro.

by Colin Cameron | 1st Jul 23, 12:40pm 1688172027

Have you noticed the amount of comments in other articles interest post hardly a whisper as soon as its property related every man /women and the other hundred identiys out there have an opinion. The old adage a man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. Always come to mind

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 1:27pm 1688174844

Yep, for all the non stop complaints about a lack of productivity and an over emphasis on housing, it's mostly crickets at the sound of discussion on actual active economic activity. Apparently it's for someone else to do, and we get to split the winnings.

by Taubin | 1st Jul 23, 12:51pm 1688172687

Honestly, I only come to this site to watch both sides fight. It's better than TV.

by Nifty1 | 1st Jul 23, 9:42am 1688161334

Market manipulation? What's happening out there...

1. RBNZ ease up bank requirements to low deposit borrowers & ease up on bank LVR requirements for investors

2. Government ease up on first home buyer grants. They've opened up the immigration flood gates. CCCFA requirements for banks eased up on.

3. Banks open up low deposit lending - heard that all banks have now opened the gates to this. Bank economists pumping out positivity about the market...hit the bottom, rates at peak etc

4. Media pumping out PR stories for banks & RE industry advising that now's a good time to buy

Like it or not, it's working... people are starting to think now's a good time to buy. Auction rooms are getting busier than they have been for months & there's even whispers of FOMO coming back.

by Zwifter | 1st Jul 23, 9:52am 1688161971

Yep if I was looking at buying, now would be the time to start to actively shop around. The problem with NZ is the lack of good quality homes and that was before you needed one that wasn't in a flood zone. Very hard to find a decent place, they built crap for decades and I expect a lot of that crap is continually going under the hammer at auctions.

by HouseMouse | 1st Jul 23, 9:58am 1688162288

I am sure all the incessant, coordinated spruiking is working, for sure. Many of the sheeple will be buying it, and it does look like activity has picked up.

whether that means much in terms of prices starting to lift - I am skeptical.

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 10:08am 1688162884

I agree I can see a slight lift in price in the next couple of months, I'm picking it will be short-lived before the next flush down.

by Zwifter | 1st Jul 23, 11:18am 1688167097

Well considering the sudden uptick is right before the election you should be surprised HM, usually a full 6 months out from an election everything goes completely dead, and I mean everything especially housing because people are waiting to see who wins the election and what promises are being made in the lolly scramble and how they will affect them financially.

by Colin Cameron | 1st Jul 23, 12:45pm 1688172308

And if slight lift now imagine if Nat/Act get in and the investors come back into the market. Orr gone by lunchtime there are alot of things which could make the market go either way hence why I don't pick. While others on here seem adamant they know yet have noticed they word things differently as time goes along must be learning from the economists

by Nifty1 | 1st Jul 23, 12:16pm 1688170579

HM you did say a while back that now would be a good time to buy, maybe you got it right...?

by HouseMouse | 1st Jul 23, 1:03pm 1688173411

I said it’s ‘potentially’ a good time to buy, but only with low ball offers.

personally if I hadn’t bought in 2019 I would be looking now

by Zachary Smith | 1st Jul 23, 10:14am 1688163282

Who can deny the emerging green shoots? On the market at 1000k, innumerable bids later sold for 1136k

Hoarder's house in Auckland surrounded by skips and scaffolding sells for $1.136m - surprising 'everyone'

by IT GUY | 1st Jul 23, 10:37am 1688164661

That is being purchased by a neighbour to develop into industrial for sure, no one wants to live in the middle of an industrial home and pay that price......

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 10:44am 1688165050

Exactly, a prime location for all three neighbors to expand into.

by Juzz | 1st Jul 23, 10:40am 1688164856

Zoned business light industrial, 15 Glasgow Avenue not street

RV (Jun 2021)

$1,230,000

Increased by 50% (Compared to 2017)

Hope their working at heights cert was current when they cherry-picked that one.

by agnostium | 1st Jul 23, 1:19pm 1688174343

More cherry picking.

Coordinated spruiker narrative is strong this week. Must have been a call out for support on the Property Investors Facebook pages.

by Zwifter | 1st Jul 23, 2:15pm 1688177740

Looks like the possibility of all the DGM's going back into hibernation for another 3 years to me. Saturday 14th October is judgement day, mark it in your diary.

by Retired-Poppy | 1st Jul 23, 4:19pm 1688185190

by Zwifter | 30th Jun 23, 11:56am - "A prediction doesn't need anything to back it up"

Its no wonder Property Spruikers lack credibility then complain they're being mobbed. Its nothing more than rear view mirror based guesswork!

Post your forecast of a National win, will Luxon simply "tell" the RBNZ to lower interest rates too?

That's about the depth of it (insight).

by HouseMouse | 1st Jul 23, 2:38pm 1688179084

Carnage in residential construction. Likened to the GFC. I called it 2 years ago. Was ignored, including by the editors of this website who saw high ongoing building consent numbers as pointing to ongoing strength in the sector. The government were also in denial when I told their advisors this was coming:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/recession-warning-building-industry-downt…

by Zwifter | 1st Jul 23, 4:51pm 1688187097

The building industry was in trouble once inflation really kicked in on materials and then interest rates started to rocket. The housing market is now quite interesting really, take a look at what it would actually cost now to build your house on a bit of land, I bet it far exceeds the current valuation and hence new builds are going to stop dead in the water.

by ChrisOfNoFame | 1st Jul 23, 5:07pm 1688188049

Meanwhile - from one at the coal face - building product suppliers are dropping their prices as stock is not moving like it used to six months ago.

In another six months - stock will just sit as only extremely well capitalized builders will still be building. (And there isn't actually that many well capitalized builder out there.)

Building products are about to see some serious "deflation".

by ChrisOfNoFame | 1st Jul 23, 5:02pm 1688187758

I'm going to say it AGAIN until the RE industry fronts up and starts being honest with it's customers ...

THERE. WILL. BE. NO. RETURN. TO. SPIRALLING. HOUSE .PRICES. LIKE. WE. HAVE. SEEN. IN. THE. LAST. 20 YEARS !!!

Why? The answer is simple. The MDRS and the NPS-UD have ensured the NIMBY blockers that have driven up land values in our major centers have been removed. We now have enough land in our major centers for 3-8 times more dwellings. Gone are the days of one house on a quarter acre.

There will be no shortage of land for new housing for 20-30 years or more.

If anyone disagrees with this assessment then front up and provide your reasons. As yet - no one has.

The Real Estate industry need to demonstrate they can be trusted. To this end - if anyone in real estate even once suggests there'll be a return to the "good old days" - then for heaven sake get a recording or better get it on paper! You will be able to sue their ar##'s off at a later date.

For the next 20 - 30 years house will go up by inflation. I.e. in real terms prices will stay flat or fall.

by Pa1nter | 1st Jul 23, 5:20pm 1688188830

More land will help but longer term the cost to actually produce a new unit of housing will only increase.

That's based on being involved in things getting built for quite some time. It's getting slower and more expensive.

by NZGecko | 2nd Jul 23, 10:44am 1688251472

P1 - I believe you are a victim of recency bias, in believing that any asset "can only go up, as new costs more"

Its your last straw, yet it fails to draw up a drop of water!!!

If this is the last straw you are firmly clutching, to hold tight on the old and deflating value rent slaver ratboxes?? I hope it gives you solace.

- I admire Captains (my ghoulish obsession at watching Human follies ??) that cling onto the wheel, telling all the beleaguered fellow Travellers "it will be fine, the music will start again soon" as the irreparably holed ship lists, then sinks without trace, taking all the doomed souls with it.

TA and AC are the Leading Captains that spring to mind and their mindless acolytes......

The lesson for thousand of years of "thinking human activity" shows that human innovation and disruptive technology can produce "new and better for less" MUCH LESS is the future......

Think 3D printing, bulk factory manufacturing, container housing, new disrupters being designed/built as we speak, etc, etc, etc.

All the best to the overly optimistic Titanic "forever spruiker" crewmen here..........:)

- Remember the lifeboats were few.......and the last one for many years, departed in 2021.

by Zwifter | 2nd Jul 23, 11:08am 1688252883

Nice rant, the cost of building a new house is going up, end of story. Petrol prices went up 10% overnight so that's more costs for Tradies to pass on.

by Nzdan | 2nd Jul 23, 11:47am 1688255237

Meanwhile borrowing power is going down. Something will have to give?

Surely the "cost" of building increased as interest rates fell, with the various cost inputs rising to capitalize on this extra borrowed money sloshing around? A postage stamp house could cost $1m to build because people could borrow $800k @ 2.5%. What happens when that becomes $500k @ 6.5%?

by Pa1nter | 3rd Jul 23, 12:21am 1688300489

Less, smaller, or lower quality properties get built. I'm sure you've seen half completed subdivisions sit stagnant for a year or three before.

Because the costs rose in spite of how much people could borrow, because the costs have a wider range of externalities than interest rates.

by wingman | 3rd Jul 23, 9:45am 1688334321

I'm about to build a new house. The builder told me to prepare for more costs - transport, new ceiling insulation thickness and argon gas-filled double glazed windows were a few of the additional expenses.

by Pa1nter | 3rd Jul 23, 10:10am 1688335811

Yeah, while you might find increased competition from builders as there's less new housing in the pipeline, most inputs won't be decreasing in value, and many will do the opposite.

Many builders' pricing for the past 24-36 months won't have factored in the full extent of the cost increases they've been incurring.

by Pa1nter | 3rd Jul 23, 12:17am 1688300243

P1 - I believe you are a victim of recency bias, in believing that any asset "can only go up, as new costs more"

The replacement cost is always a factor in the cost of any existing asset.

Doesn't even have to be houses. If we look at cars, the cost of used, road legal cars has shot up. Shouldn't, right? Because cars are a depreciating asset. Like a house, things deteriorate, rot, crap out. But there's less used cars being imported, and new cars are more expensive because they're either an expensive subsidised new tech vehicle or a highly taxed dino-juice burner.

You've started talking about TA and AC, these are people I don't listen to and from the sounds of it wouldn't agree with idealogically. I couldn't give two shits where house prices went and whether anyone bought one or not.

You can talk disruption all you want, but no one has cracked that code. Tiny houses and container homes are more expensive per square metre than a traditional house. The manufacturers of them are dropping like flies, so they're not a safe bet to entrust with your money. You can print a house, but the walls of the house aren't the expensive part.

The opposite is actually occuring; house production has only increased in complexity and with it the costs.

Probably this issue can be resolved, but it's decades away. My personal preference is for that to be a lot sooner, but I'm just telling you how it is for the foreseeable future.

Until then, you can buy an older house that's made from better materials for a discount. Unless it's a 'character' home, in which case you can pay a premium.

by Flying high | 3rd Jul 23, 6:21am 1688322087

Whats your solution to the build cost spiral. Cost is being added through new standards and regulation. Environmental is causing issues for consenting. And now there will be more stormwater management

Should we go back to basic homes and allow anyone to build, with plans that say "builder to confirm onsite". That system worked for decades until the monolith disaster

by Pa1nter | 3rd Jul 23, 7:46am 1688327167

I don't really have a solution. As you've alluded, there's a seemingly endless emphasis on aspects of construction which work against it obtaining any improved cost efficiency. So rather than focus on delivering houses cheaper, instead it's directed to satisfying the requirements of the likes of ACC, insurers, councils, banks, etc. As you need to keep all those authorities and entities happy to generate a house, they are really hard to avoid, unless someone was paying cash and took 100% of the responsibility for the house and anything that happened to it.

Ideally housing should just be buyer beware but most people have too much at stake in them.

by wingman | 2nd Jul 23, 9:17pm 1688289425

I visited a renter I own in West Harbour today, in a nice but certainly not opulent area of Auckland. The tenant told me about a house over the road that was sold at auction yesterday. The street was chokka with enthusiastic watchers...the place sold for $1.9m....now that's amazing.

And I keep hearing about the 'property collapse'.