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A dip in auction numbers over the school holidays but the sales rate remained steady with 41% of auctioned properties selling under the hammer

Property / news
A dip in auction numbers over the school holidays but the sales rate remained steady with 41% of auctioned properties selling under the hammer
12th Oct 24, 6:00am by Greg Ninness
Auction flag

There was a dip in activity at the latest auctions monitored by interest.co.nz.

We tracked 289 residential property auctions over the week of 5-11 October, down from 343 the previous week and 356 the week before that.

The drop in the number of properties being offered over the last two weeks was probably due to the school holidays, with many vendors and agents holding off until the holidays are over.

However numbers remained well up from where they were over winter and the sales rate also held on to recent gains, with 119 properties selling under the hammer, giving an overall sales rate of 41%.

So far the spring sales rate seems to be settling at just over 40%, compared to an average of around 30-33% over winter.

With the kids back at school this coming week and their parents back at work, we should see a pick up auction room activity as the market starts its run towards the end of the year.

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

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49 Comments

by  RealAgent  |  12th Oct 24, 7:23am 1728670989

So, over half of the 41% that sold,  sold for less than their rating valuations? There is Nothing positive here!

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by  TronMVP  |  12th Oct 24, 8:01am 1728673284

Shouldn't everything sell for less than the rating valuation?

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by  IT GUY  |  12th Oct 24, 9:04am 1728677051

What is your logic?

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by  Zwifter  |  12th Oct 24, 11:31am 1728685905

The logic according to some of the clowns on here is we are back to 2015 prices so everything should be currently being sold at less than the current RV.

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by  Retired-Poppy  |  12th Oct 24, 11:48am 1728686887

by Iceman | 3rd Oct 23, 11:07am

Bumps as expected but we’re definitely past the big drops stage.

Yes indeed, August 2023 was the best time to buy.......😂🤣

How can you trust the advice of the heavily vested? 

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by  TronMVP  |  12th Oct 24, 11:58am 1728687510

RVs were done at the peak of house prices, and prices have dropped 10-25% since then (depending on your city/region) .Therefore, if you are selling above RV, you are doing pretty well, or maybe have done major reno work which the council hasn't taken into consideration. If I was lookingat buying (which I'm not) then I would offer a minimum of 10% below RV, and definitely not over RV.

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by  tothepoint  |  12th Oct 24, 12:04pm 1728687866

Sadly, TronMVP, your strategy won't get you too far.......

Time's moving on.

TTP

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by  Retired-Poppy  |  12th Oct 24, 12:14pm 1728688492

What's his strategy Tim? Honesty? Telling it how it is? I can understand why you'd be struggling with such.....

Tron hit the nail on the head. 

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by  Time Lord  |  12th Oct 24, 12:14pm 1728688459

As time moves on prime minister Luxon sells more and more of his mortgage free NZ property..

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by  Retired-Poppy  |  12th Oct 24, 12:25pm 1728689135

Despite being mortgage free Luxon obviously views this form of investment as past "ripe"

DTI's are in play and it looks like some sort of comprehensive CGT or wealth tax may be on the horizon too. 

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by  tothepoint  |  12th Oct 24, 2:36pm 1728697011

Despite being mortgage free Luxon obviously views this form of investment as past "ripe" [Retired-Poppy - above]

One can assume no such thing ......

Luxon may, for instance, use the proceeds to invest in other property - perhaps in better locations?

TTP

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by  Baywatch  |  12th Oct 24, 8:27pm 1728718051

Hawaii perhaps ..?

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by  Rampart  |  12th Oct 24, 8:35pm 1728718547

You’re dreamin. If I had to bet, he’s funnelling that money off shore. 

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by  IT GUY  |  12th Oct 24, 8:36pm 1728718587

Its a hard fact to spin, I see what you have done there...    maybe we should find what the OTHER PROPERTY looks like, as his portfolio certainly looks similar to many Spruiker's here...    what's the big secret Luxie is investing in?

 

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by  Iceman  |  12th Oct 24, 8:17am 1728674253

That’s old news mate, has been the case for nearly two years.

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by  Tui12  |  12th Oct 24, 5:01pm 1728705719

65% selling at or above CV on the Shore.

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by  Houses Overpriced  |  12th Oct 24, 8:55am 1728676554

Just pathetic results for spring 

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by  IT GUY  |  12th Oct 24, 9:05am 1728677118

Listing numbers by sales = big overhang

Offer accordingly if you must

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by  wingman  |  12th Oct 24, 10:31am 1728682318

Anyone who thinks that the cost of building a house in NZ will decrease, needs to read today's Herald.

The article by Bruce Cotterill, entitled, "Orange cone mentality holding NZ back". It's all about the red tape mania in NZ.

E.G. Wayne Brown announced earlier this year that 40% of the cost of road repairs are related to traffic management expenses. And another example is an alteration to a building which is going to cost $500,000, of which $150,000 is  "compliance and consulting fees". 

Anyone bought a property  lately? You've probably been asked to explain where you got the money from...the anti-money laundering BS. 

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by  Welly-FHB  |  12th Oct 24, 9:52am 1728679929

Couldn't find it, got a link?

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by  wingman  |  12th Oct 24, 10:08am 1728680889

Probably have to buy a Herald or pay for opening the link. 

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by  Zwifter  |  12th Oct 24, 11:36am 1728686192

Its been bad for years the anti money laundering BS. Basically you have to redo all that with the banks EVERY SIX MONTHS when you buy a house so it expires so fast basically you now have to do it every time you buy a house. Just crazy, doesn't matter if you have been with the same bank for 30 years. This was the case in late 2020 anyway, not sure if it has changed.

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by  bw  |  12th Oct 24, 11:53am 1728687216

BS?

Speaking of 2020 -"...in 2020, Chinese interests alone laundered more than $1 billion through Australian real estate..."

And it isn't just in Aussie.

"5 ways criminals launder money through real estate"

https://www.firstaml.com/nz/resources/5-ways-criminals-launder-money-th…

 

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by  wingman  |  12th Oct 24, 12:24pm 1728689090

From what I can gather, there has been one successful prosecution under the anti-money laundering act, which was introduced in 2009.

How much has it all cost the long-suffering NZ taxpayer? 

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by  Sisyphus  |  12th Oct 24, 10:39pm 1728725984

It is the money launderers that are the enablers for the "real criminals". All the death, abuse, addiction, and destruction wrought is made possible by their accounting.

Without the money launderers all that drug money would be nothing more than petrol, groceries, and take out for fear of an easy pinch at IRD.

Weirdly money laundering caries a maximum sentence far below those they are enabling. As with other NZ sentencing multiple counts generally has a sentence served "concurrently". Hopefully this will change along with other "tough on crime" stances.

https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/police-seize-500-million-cash-and-assets-gangs-and-criminals?nondesktop

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by  26@Main  |  12th Oct 24, 3:34pm 1728700483

A recent example involving Auckland real estate and the Comancheros. 

There was also a money-laundering phase, Operation Scuba, which police allege involved criminal profits being used to buy properties on behalf of the gang.

In addition ... Department of Internal Affairs said there was evidence NZ real estate was being increasingly used by criminals to launder large sums of illicit cash. In the financial year ending June 2021, 100 properties worth $73.7 million were seized by police. That was an increase from the previous year, when 51 properties totalling $55.7m were seized. 

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by  K.W.  |  12th Oct 24, 12:15pm 1728688500

Apparently its not good enough these days for a simple building site delivery to just turn up and offload the truck.  Nope, nowadays you have to shut the whole street down, place 100 road cones everywhere, set up a traffic detour, and then have several people in high vis vests stand on the road and supervise it all,  and all this costs $10-$15k.  

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by  Toye  |  12th Oct 24, 10:07am 1728680864

"Big recovery" nothingburger

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by  linklater01  |  12th Oct 24, 12:13pm 1728688430

I don't know what this tells us about the market, if anything, but the house next door has sold after just one week on the market to first time buyers. The agent told us that her phone had been ringing almost non-stop and the key factor seems to have been that it has 4 beds. A similar property nearby with only 3 beds is attracting little interest. We live in Mount Maunganui.

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by  Mypointis  |  12th Oct 24, 12:29pm 1728689362

I am in the market and nearly everything I have gone for is under contract or sold. The house in this listing came to market on wednesday the 9th and already has sold on it. It's getting a bit frustrating.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/listing/495825163…

 

 

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by  Independent_Observer  |  12th Oct 24, 12:38pm 1728689897

Must be time for everyone to start panic buying again and go back to living their lives in a constant state of fear (FOMO) which is an incredibly unhealthy emotional state to live one’s life (it ruins your nervous system and it f%#}s peoples ability to live cooperatively with others both in families and societies) in and yet that appears to be what the property bulls want others to experience for their own financial gain. 

 

The narrative of comments like the above is emotive in nature with the intention to cause FOMO. 

Everyone rush out and buy a house now because if you don’t you will never again be able to afford one - it’s your last chance! Panic panic panic! The end is near. You can’t take your time…

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by  Mypointis  |  12th Oct 24, 2:57pm 1728698221

This example came to market asking mid 400s, now changed to high 400s. Obviously there is a change in the air.

 

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/listing/494856851…

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by  Toye  |  12th Oct 24, 4:34pm 1728704098

Ignore the stats, listen to my anecdotes!

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by  Zachary Smith  |  12th Oct 24, 1:30pm 1728693017

How come the trademe listing says it is going to auction on 31st October? 

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by  Nifty1  |  12th Oct 24, 2:14pm 1728695678

First line of the description:

OPEN HOME CANCELLED! The property is now SOLD!

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by  Pragmatist  |  12th Oct 24, 2:17pm 1728695824

First line of text in the listing : OPEN HOME CANCELLED! The property is now SOLD! This fully renovated 1940s solid two-bedroom...

 

Might have been updated after you looked. I guess the RE agent is leaving the ad up for their own exposure.

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by  Zachary Smith  |  12th Oct 24, 6:38pm 1728711523

I just gave it a "boy look" and didn't scroll down.

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by  Retired-Poppy  |  12th Oct 24, 1:01pm 1728691316

Linklater01, I think it's fair to say the market lacks the qualified and confident buyers in sufficient numbers to deliver enough sales volume and eventually the lift. We saw the same thing happen with a tastefully renovated house across from us. Last July, it settled for nearly $280K over RV! Over the years the owners had spent heaps and pretty much gutted it. There were two buyers, neither were prepared to give in.

The buyers are certainly out there for properties that tick the right boxes. Others by majority are further bloating the unsold inventory. 

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by  Zwifter  |  12th Oct 24, 1:05pm 1728691526

Nothing but SOLD signs in Tauranga, if it has not got sold on it then its coming up for auction. Like I said a week ago the market will turn on a dime. If we get another 50bps cut in November, my prediction of 3 to 4% annual gains down here by Christmas is likely to pan out.

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by  Retired-Poppy  |  12th Oct 24, 1:44pm 1728693871

TradeMe has 1131 listings for houses in Tauranga. When I entered the key word "auction" 140 listings. 

Like with Iceman, Tim and Wingman, if you've got the lies, I've got the time :)

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by  Mypointis  |  12th Oct 24, 3:00pm 1728698446

Also, how many are "under contract" They rarely put that on ads these days as I have been finding out. You waste a period of time looking into a house and make a move only to find it is basically sold.

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by  interesting1234  |  14th Oct 24, 8:15am 1728846942

Under contract may still imply that many properties are in a train where none can go unconditional until the first in the train sells their property. October must be the busiest month of the year as people want to be in by xmas. The actual volumes sold and prices paid will tell all in time.

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by  Pragmatist  |  12th Oct 24, 6:18pm 1728710309

If you sort by latest listings then it does look a lot more like auctions are hot.  First three or four pages are 80% Auction or deadline tender sales.  All the older stuff has already failed to sell at auction or maybe  the vendor never tried to auction.

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by  Toye  |  12th Oct 24, 4:37pm 1728704232

Nothing but SOLD signs in Tauranga, if it has not got sold on it then its coming up for auction. Like I said a week ago the market will turn on a dime. If we get another 50bps cut in November, my prediction of 3 to 4% annual gains down here by Christmas is likely to pan out.

I'm leaving this here in case you delete it when you are inevitably wrong, Zwifter.

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by  1689 Baptist  |  12th Oct 24, 6:19pm 1728710394

I recently upgraded a 3 bdrm home to a 4bdrm by spending 5k building an internal wall at the end of the oversized dining room to create a 3mx3m room. The difference in RE appraisals was $140k

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by  IT GUY  |  13th Oct 24, 8:49pm 1728805779

I used to know a few Irish builders in the 2000's who did this at pace in WGTN Rentals.... v quick way to build cashflow

 

 

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by  bw  |  12th Oct 24, 2:21pm 1728696105

 From this morning's Weekend Briefing on here - "The UST 30yr bond auction yesterday was again well supported, delivering a median yield of 4.32%. That was up from 3.95% at the prior equivalent event a month ago."

"The last "real recession"--the organic contraction of credit and risk-taking that drains the excesses from the economy and financial system over the course of several years--occurred 43 years ago in 1981-82.... Interest rate cycles are multi-year affairs, generally running between 15 and 40 years. The current cycle--from 1981 to the present--is extremely long in tooth....The net result of moral hazard is that  the excesses of risk and debt are rewarded and expand to even more precarious heights, ensuring that the eventual downturn will be far more destructive than had the system been allowed to fully re-set in 2000-02 and again in 2008-09.... Central Banks' favourite trick to put off the credit cycle; lowering interest rates, is slipping out of reach.... Nothing lasts forever, regardless of what policy is applied. Interest rates are rising and will continue to rise...."

https://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct24/hard-rain10-24.html

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by  Retired-Poppy  |  12th Oct 24, 2:46pm 1728697584

Good comment. Owing to climate, geopolitical tension and sovereign debt risk, it's looking more like inflation and therefore interest rates are heading up again. It's a warning sign in itself that many here are popping the corks already while ignoring what's going on overseas. Self serving can easily lead to blindness while risks continue to build. 

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