Residential property auctions in Auckland may be losing some of their lustre with the success rate at many of the major auctions falling well below 50%.
The table below shows how many homes were sold at several major auctions conducted by Barfoot & Thompson and Harcourts throughout the Auckland region in the last two weeks.
Of the 10 auctions surveyed, only three had success rates above 50% and four had success rates below 40%.
Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson warned in the company's October sales report that fewer properties were being sold under the hammer and vendors needed to be more realistic when setting reserve prices if they wanted to achieve a sale.
"Clearance at auctions has definitely slowed, but a significant number of sales are being concluded in post auction negotiations," Thompson said in the report.
"For vendors looking to sell quickly, auction remains the preferred method.
"However buyers are no longer under the same pressure to meet vendor price expectations and the properties that are selling are those with realistic reserves," he said.
And the slow down in auction sales is not confined to houses in the suburbs, it is also occurring in the Auckland apartment market, which tends to be more driven by investors.
Two main agencies dominate Auckland's apartment auction scene, City Sales and Ray White City Apartments.
At Ray White City Apartments' last auction on November 5, nine apartments were auctioned and none sold under the hammer and at the City Sales auction on October 28 all four properties offered for sale were passed in.
That was a complete turnaround from just a few weeks earlier when success rates above 70% were the norm.
| Agency | Venue | Date | Number Sold |
Passed in, withdrawn or postponed |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Bruce Mason Centre North Shore |
October 22 | 8 (24%) | 26 (76%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Bruce Mason Centre North Shore |
November 5 | 13 (40%) | 20 (60%) |
| Harcourts Cooper & Co | North Shore | Week ending 1 November | 14 (38%) | 23 (62%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Manukau Sports Bowl | October 27 | 9 (28%) | 23 (72%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Campbell Tyson Centre Pukekohe | October 28 | 1 (50%) | 1 (50%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Bruce Mason Centre North Shore |
October 29 | 24 (60%) | 16 (40%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Pukekohe Raceway | October 29 | 9 (48%) | 10 (52%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Head Office Auction Room, Shortland St, CBD | October 30 | 10 (38%) | 16 (62%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Head Office Auction Room, Shortland St, CBD | October 28 | 41 (56%) | 33 (44%) |
| Barfoot & Thompson | Head Office Auction Room, Shortland St, CBD | October 29 | 7 (70%) | 3 (30%) |
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