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Fewer Chinese buyers but plenty of Chinese sellers at the latest Auckland apartment auction

Property
Fewer Chinese buyers but plenty of Chinese sellers at the latest Auckland apartment auction

There were fewer ethnic Chinese buyers but plenty of Chinese vendors at this week's Auckland apartment auctions, which were notable for the number of quick flicks coming to market.

The reduced presence of Chinese buyers in the auction rooms relative to this time last year has been particularly noticeable at recent apartment auctions, although they were well represented among vendors, with three of the four apartments auctioned by Barfoot & Thompson this week having Chinese vendors.

Another noticeable feature was the high number of quick flick apartments coming to auction, with half of those auctioned this week having been purchased since the beginning of last year.

Most sold at substantial premiums to their purchase prices although an apartment in the recently completed Station R building, which is adjacent to the railway tracks near Mt Eden station, failed to attract any bids.

See below for the full results of this week's apartment auctions at Barfoot & Thompson and Ray White City Apartments.

Barfoot & Thompson apartment auction results:

  • 11A/205 Hobson St. Hobson Gardens building. A 163 square metre, three bedroom, north-west facing apartment with a large balcony. Vacant. There were multiple bidders but it was passed in at $952,500. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased in 2009 for $415,000. The agents were Stephen Shin and Yasu Ka.
  • 1210/207 Federal St. Federal building. Quick flick. A two bedroom corner unit with a car park. Vacant. Prior to the auction the auctioneer said he had received a pre-auction bid of $620,000 which had been accepted subject to a better bid being received at auction. But when he asked for further bids there was none and it was sold for the pre-auction price of $620,000. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased in June last year for $541,000. The agents were Stephen Shin and Rhys Chen.
  • 5E/77 Victoria St. Quick flick. A studio apartment across the road from Sky City. Vacant. Sold for $285,000. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased in October last year for $259,000.The agents were Alex Allan and Rhys Chen.
  • 206/11 Fenton St, Mt Eden. Station R building. Quick flick.  A 77 square metre, two bedroom apartment with a car park in complex that was completed last year. Vacant. There were no bids on the property and it was passed in. According to QV.co.nz it had been purchased in May last year $695,500. The agents were Stephen Shin and Rhys Chen.

Ray White City Apartments auction results:

  • 2B/220 Victoria St west. The Beaumont.  A spacious one bedroom unit with a large balcony (total floor area including the balcony 90 square metres) and car park. Vacant.There were multiple bidders and it sold for $620,000. According to QV.co.nz it had been purchased for $445,000 in February 2013.  Rates were $1627 and the body corporate levy $6354. The agents were Damian Piggin and Daniel Horrobin.
  • 24/22 Normanby Rd, Mt Eden. Normanby Mews. A 114 square metre, three bedroom unit with a tandem car park in a building currently having remedial work completed.. Vacant. There were multiple bidders but it was passed in at $667,500. The agent was Krister Samuel.
  • G2/47 Hobson St. H47 building. Quick flickA 69 square metre, two bedroom, ground floor unit with its own 40 square metre courtyard and a car park. There were multiple bidders and it sold for $669,000. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $610,000 in August last year. Rates were $1631 and the body corporate levy $5290. The agent was Eden Thompson.

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55 Comments

Brought in October, ha! They'll be one of the first people ever to pay a CGT.

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I'm sorry but this racist article disgusts me. Just mentioning that they are Chinese is racist, even if someone looks Chinese it does not make them Chinese.

I sure hope that all of these people doing a quick flick are just having a mere change in circumstances as their reason for selling and I hope they do not suffer being hit with CGT.

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please what a senstive soul, as for the CGT so what if they have to pay tax on any profit thats the way it should be for any profit made from buying and selling property.
expect the net to be widened on this policy once the government changes, especially non resident in this country that do not contribute towards the TAX system

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But John Key said that foreigners aren't a problem in the housing market. I'm sorry but landlords and speculators are providing a service and should not be subject to tax. If it weren't for them then these poor people who are renting from them would be on the street.

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What strange logic. Everyone else who provides a service pays tax, why not landlords?

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He's just trolling, don't bother

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SpaceX do you mind telling us what your background is? I'd be interested to know if you were ethnic Chinese or not.
Personally as an Englishman I wouldn't take offence at being mistaken for any of my European cousins.

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I am not Chinese. I am just a good Samaritan who knows injustice when I see it. Such as the injustice that would occur if we banned foreign Chinese from the housing market.

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I detect a hint of sarcasm

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Doh! I fell for it...Poe's law? An internet adage which states that, without a clear indicator of the author's intent, parodies of extremism are indistinguishable from sincere expressions of extremism.

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Oh I see Social Justice Warrior. You don't think the Chinese can stand up for themselves?

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Could we be clear on your principles please SpaceX.

You'd rather allow foreigners buy up our land and our houses (Chinese or other), pushing prices to a level so high that our own citizens can't afford to live? So that our children can't afford to buy houses and then have to pay rent to foreigners who export the cash out of the country. So that everyone is so in debt that it becomes a risk to our economy. From the point of view of those who are struggling right now, I find it very difficult to see how you are a 'good Samaritan'.

I completely stand for NZ being tolerant and good global citizens, but a some point we need to grow a pair and say enough is enough.

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Well actually I am totally against foreigners buying up our housing and locking out multiple generations of home ownership. It makes me sick to my stomach. But the majority of voters are obviously happy with this going on.

Being a good global citizen != allowing a country with over 1.4 billion people being able to price us the fuck out of our own housing.

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Best comment ever SpaceX - nails it in one fell swoop

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Zach - looking at your postings and choice of words I seriously doubt you are a natural born Brit.
Keep up the "good" work - your postings are "interesting"

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Full disclosure: Born in England to English parents but have been an Aucklander since the age of five. Pure JAFA.

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Thought you were a Brit Zach.

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True. Seems like a NZ Labour party tactic. They could be New Zealanders of Chinese descent.

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Gamblers throwing in their chips...racist article? Please spare the mellow dramatics. I hope they pay every cent in tax and commission plus GST.

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Selling but they never sell. Times are changing. Look for more and more listings and prices to weaken. Fear is a terrible thing. Fear of losing capital.

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These are apartments. Experienced Auckland Landlords will know what I mean by that. Honestly there are a lot worse things than losing money on a property deal. Like marriage breakups for example - people cope. A lot of people just rent it out if they can't get what they want. Happened a lot in 2008.
Anyway these all sold for a profit. All good.

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Yes but what fool just purchased them and to whom do they owe their credit?

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I am sure they will be looking to reinvest in New Zealand, once they got their money here I can't see them taking it back to China.

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They will probably buy gold or something else that is difficult for the Chinese authorities to trace.

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Money laundering at work! Wonderful. Shows how easy it is. Even the government gets it's cut (CGT)!

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I am sorry but SpaceX racism absolutely disgusts me - singling out Chinese for hopeful exemption from GST is horrible. There are plenty of other minorities that should have a free ride beside....

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This is a tiny sample. No conclusions can be taken from this.
I would like to say that this refutes the oft quoted old wives tale that Chinese always hold property. But I don't think it does because as I say its such a small sample that no conclusions can be made from it at all.

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These are apartments, Chinese won't hold them long term because these are used to launder money. The capital freed from these sales will now be sunk into prime Eastern suburbs detached housing.

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Phil Twyford would proud of this level of analytics.

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Interesting that some Chinese are starting to sell up, this place is not far from mine, Chinese owners had it built now selling as soon as completed, interesting times...
http://www.trademe.co.nz/property/residential-property-for-sale/auction…

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Something is fishing - once you take into account the real estate fee - there is little in it. I mean would you take the risk for example

5e/77 Vic Street

Sold Price ... ... 285k
Purchase Price ... ... 259k
Real Estate Fee ... ...15k
Tax on profit ... ....3.3 k (30% rough figure)

Profit....... 7.7 k for holding for 6 months and taking a risk.

7.7 capital profit.

add the rent maybe 10k max....

I dont know if its a good deal.

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Your real Estate fee seems a little high. I'd expect it to be closer to $10,000 (based on 3% commission + 0.5% marketing). The tax would then be 4.8k (30%). and Profit would be 11.2k before adding 5k (rent +depreciation of chattels+tax destructibility of mortgage interest - expenses - interest). 16.2k represents a 20.85% return over 6 months or 41.7% pa AFTER TAX (assuming they put in 77.7K or 30% of purchase price).

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What about that body corporate fee? Which seems a little expensive...

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Anyone remember when the Chinese left the Brisbane property market in the early 1980's?

If they have decided to leave the Auckland building it could get very messy.

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Sounds like "Yellow Peril" is still alive in New Zealand. You can't say they are Chinese just by their appearance. they could be Korean,Japanese,Vietnamese,Mongolian,Tibetan,Central Asian,Thai, Laotian etc for all you know. Don't make ignorant assumptions that all East Asian people are Chinese. reminds me of King of the Hill "So are you Chinese or Japanese?". These people could be NZ-born of Chinese descent, might have been in NZ for decades. Chinese people have been in New Zealand since 1842.

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So you're saying that all Asians look the same? A bit racist isn't it? I can definitely tell the difference between Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Thai, Filipino etc etc.

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Mmh no you can't, but you can try.

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They had Chinese names.

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NZ Herald also using a nationality label
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11600…
Chinese buyers returning

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No when 10% of the population is accounting for over 40% of the property purchases...something is wrong.

But I guess we cannot have a rational debate with people like you.

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Reminds me of a story i read about former U.S. speaker of the house Thomas (TIP) O'Neill.
He had just met with a delegation of Japanese politicians.About 10 minutes later they were approached by an intern and asked if they had me Speaker of the House Thomas O'Neill.There spokesman asked which one was he.The intern replied ''He is the one with a bulbous nose"" to which the spokesman replied""i don't know,everyone we have met has looked the same'"".

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That's bloody brilliance at its most brilliant!

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As in Vancouver, so in Auckland?:
.
"as more Chinese scramble to engage and repeat if only the first three steps, the price of local housing, which is merely a store of value to price indiscriminate foreign buyers, soars while it makes home purchases for the domestic population prohibitively expensive and virtually impossible".

How many vacant houses in Auckland now?

Not be mentioned or admitted by the government or media perhaps.

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But at least the provincial government there gets a 2% property transfer tax assessed for each sale (excepting to First Home Buyers). (and this is also payable when transferring title to a relative or company or trust - even when no money changes hands)

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We need to start a database like they have in Vancouver, information can be crowdsourced by people who regularly visit the auctions. If the Govt doesn't want to take the initiative, then we must.

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The article speaks for itself. The Canadian Goverment have been way too lapse.

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Lax.
..
And the NZ Govt have been vigilant? Protecting our country from unnecessary foreign/transient 3rd hand Auckland house purchasing, pushing up prices/reducing supply?

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Our govt hasn't just been lax...they have actively encouraged it.

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National Govt sees all foreign money pouring into NZ homes and NZ farms as a kind of 'stimulus'. Which it is - on property prices and to some NZ vendors. But does it benefit kiwis overall? While a healthy economy & society can tolerate & benefit from a low level of foreign investment - at current levels it is on the verge of giving away our own country - a form of treason?
Do we get a vote on this policy?

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"Do we get a vote on this policy?" No, they just say they got a mandate at the last election, just like everything else they want or want to do. Some here even say the same thing.

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Best to keep an eye on things, not surprising that some are trying to make a quick exit:-

BBC - China's slowing economy and fears of unrest
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35735949

BBC - China economic slowdown: Can it avoid a crash?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35356055

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CJ099,

For amusement worth keeping half an eye in coming months on what is going on in the Nine Elms/Battersea Power Station Development in London.
Asian investors are trying to sell but no buyers in sight.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/london-property-nervous-battersea-power-statio…

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yesterday MSM rolled out roy hong fong to talk up Chinese buyers flooding back.
I always wonder who uses whom for stories like that. he needs the property market to keep rising otherwise 1/2 his disciples will go bankrupt.
he uses a leverage using GC model which only works in a heated rising market, unfortunately he does not push that cashflow is king and when the market turns the last ones that joined will suffer for it

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