Lift in auction activity could mean it's emerging from its winter doldrums

Auction rooms the busiest they've been since early June but no improvement in the sales rate

Property / news

Auction rooms the busiest they've been since early June but no improvement in the sales rate

29th Aug 26, 6:00am by Greg Ninness

There was a reasonable lift in activity at the latest residential property auctions although there wasn't a matching increase in the sales rate.

Interest.co.nz monitored the auctions of 290 residential properties around the country over the week of 22-28 August. That was up from 214 the previous week, a 36% increase.

Of the 290 properties on offer at the latest auctions, sales were achieved on 103, giving an overall sales rate of 36%, exactly the same as the previous week.

Of the properties that sold, 52% achieved prices at least equal to or above their respective rating valuations, up slightly from 49% the previous week.

The 290 properties on offer at the latest auctions was the most since the second week of June, perhaps signalling that the usual spring lift in auction activity is knocking at the door.

However, the 36% sales rate suggests buyers are remaining cautious, especially as mortgage interest rates continue to rise and the possibility of a capital gains tax being introduced after the election.

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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7 Comments

by Averageman | 29th Aug 26, 10:28am 1787956100

Take central and south Auck out of the stats and its a disaster. I suggest the volume is in sausage flats not traditional homes. Probably the same in Chch.

Take them out of the picture and its colder than an Antarctic storm.

❄️ ❄️ ❄️

by IT GUY | 29th Aug 26, 10:33am 1787956426

It’s the counter-intuitive problem plaguing property sellers: it’s a buyer’s market without buyers. Prices have fallen in much of Australia, with parts of Sydney down 6 per cent in the past three months since the market’s peak late last year.

But high borrowing costs, the looming threat of more interest rate rises and forecasts from major banks that prices could fall further have left many buyers with decision paralysis about whether to take the relatively good deal on offer or wait for a better one.

by IT GUY | 29th Aug 26, 11:21am 1787959298

To date, Labour’s main sources of new revenue come from its capital gains tax, cancelling the Investment Boost tax credit.

The party has not yet made a decision on whether to reinstate a ban on interest deductions for residential landlords.

Anyone else see that they will make this call after the election... tax wise its worth about 3 billion, and likely it could cause more downwards movement in price then a low level land tax.. as it will cause many to give up and sell.

by NZGecko | 29th Aug 26, 12:43pm 1787964195

A clearance rate of 36% in Au would be like the world is on fire, all hope in housing is lost, housing is dead and buried as an investable.
Worse still, half selling below a recently lowered CV, would have Aussie property pumpers driven to drink and antidepressants......

Yet its just another ongoing bad Auction result, in the biggest housing crash NZ has ever seen, that still has a long way to fall!

Meanwhile, amidst the massive value crash, still another wall of cheaper supply, about to flood the NZ market:
- 20x New homes being built nearby me. All Chinese developers.

We have a Chinese style, Chinese built, Building boom going on in NZ currently.

Look what an epic overbuild did to the Chinese housing market:
Real Residential Property Prices for China (QCNR628BIS) | FRED | St. Louis Fed

Who is keen on 2003 pricing?- coming back to say "Hello, Im back" ???

by David Chaston | 29th Aug 26, 2:17pm 1787969860

Be very careful about comparing auction 'sold' rates. We use a very different standard to the Aussies.

For us, it is a strict 'hammer drop' definition. And we monitor most auctions directly. So, no fudging.

In Australia, both Domain and Cotality take the agents word for what happens. So if someone attends and auction, doesn't buy on the hammer drop, but does a transaction sometime later, they are likely to call it an auction sale. Lots of fudging. And it has been like that forever (and to be fair, that is how the REINZ also collect 'sold by auction' data - based on agent reporting). There is marketing advantages to reporting high auction clearance rates.

So treat the Aussie data (and history) with appropriate scepticism. The trend will likely still be valid. But comparing how we report auction sales with how they do, is not apples-vs-apples.

by IT GUY | 29th Aug 26, 4:24pm 1787977464

Its more interesting to watch NZ Bank economists vs Aussie bank economists, none of ours predicted falls vs a competition to out call fall amounts.

by NZGecko | 30th Aug 26, 10:50am 1788043840

Thanks for the Au Nz auction info DC.

We trust in Interest, to bring us the unvarnished truth. Without selfish vested "marketing" - Thanks!

Its a sorry case, yet no surprise that REAs engage in various auction data massaging and market befuddling skullduggery......

Trust in their integrity, is lower than Earthworms.

The FIRE industry spin and self interested mis-speak, knows no limits.