Barfoot & Thompson achieves sales on just over a third of auctioned properties

Property

Auction Results: Barfoot & Thomspon took 162 residential properties to auction last week, had sold 57 by the end of the following day

20th Dec 16, 11:03am by Greg Ninness

Barfoot & Thompson had 162 residential properties scheduled for auction last week and achieved sales on 57 of them by 5pm the day after the auction, giving a sales rate of 35%.

Of the remaining 105 properties, 86 were passed in, three had their auctions postponed and 16 were withdrawn from sale (see table below).

At the Auckland auctions the cheapest property sold was a one bedroom unit with a carport at Panmure which went for $420,000 and the most expensive sale was a a four bedroom freestanding townhouse at St Heliers Bay that fetched $1.87 million.

You can see the full results, with prices of the individual properties that sold and details of those that didn't, on our Auction/Sales Results page where you can search for auction results by location.

**Barfoot & Thompson Auction Results: Week ending 18 December 2016**
Venue	Offered	Sold	Passed in	Postponed	Withdrawn
On site	15	5	9	-	1
Manukau 13 December	24	8	15	-	1
34 Shortland St, CBD. 14 December	42	19	20	-	3
Whangarei 14 December	6	2	4	-	-
Pukekohe 14 December	12	6	4	-	2
Takapuna 15 December	31	11	14	1	5
34 Shortland St, CBD. 15 December	27	7	17	2	1
Waiuku 15 December	6	-	3	-	3

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46 Comments

by BigDaddy | 20th Dec 16, 11:17am 1482185833

A huge improvement on previous results at 35%. Last time the clearance rate was 33%

http://www.interest.co.nz/property/85257/third-homes-auctioned-barfoot-…

The Boom is Back!

by CJ099 | 20th Dec 16, 11:45am 1482187543

I hope you're being ironic 'The Boom is Back' don't kid yourself. It's obvious that there's been a down turn in the market. What would be good to see is a comparison to the Auction results to say six months ago.

by nymad | 20th Dec 16, 11:58am 1482188306

I too am hoping for Irony.
Alas, I know BigDaddy to be a bit of a property hyper.

For purposes of this data there is effectively no difference between 33% and 35%.

by mja | 20th Dec 16, 3:44pm 1482201858

If you cannot detect the sarcasm in Bid Daddy's comment. I would suggest part or all of your brain is not running on all it's cylinders.

by Zachary Smith | 20th Dec 16, 6:15pm 1482210907

Nymad's satire detector is on the blink today. Mind you it is harder to detect these days.

by nymad | 20th Dec 16, 6:40pm 1482212449

Ha. I'll agree; guilty as charged.

by Crazy Horse | 20th Dec 16, 12:56pm 1482191819

BD ...you surely have made your above comment with a sense of "sarcasm" ..the last working week of the year and all that ! ....gotta wind the punters up for the Christmas/NY period, where over the BBQ's at the beach n burbs, the same ol' BS stories go on how some so called "astute" property investor made $200k capital gain in 18 months etc etc .....this Awklund market is so "warped" in so many ways..... so much so, that one day it will just 'implode' on itself.....and as a taxpayer, if I have to bail you guys out, try getting the money out of me !! .....good luck !

by Craig | 20th Dec 16, 11:38am 1482187125

I know they will argue 35% is good to be sold. But that is pretty poor really given how hard they push the idea of auctions. To only sell that few and still make money on marketing time for the others and telling them auction is best doesn't quite feel right.

by Ted Stanton | 20th Dec 16, 11:45am 1482187518

The Banks have cost over 100 family home owners alot of marketing money. These hard working New Zealanders will suffer as well until they can sell their houses until February next year.
Hard working New Zealanders are punished by the Banks for owning a home?
The major banks (Australian owned) are holding New Zealanders to ransom!

by nymad | 20th Dec 16, 12:00pm 1482188417

Rubbish.
Don't blame the banks for this issue.

by sharetrader | 20th Dec 16, 12:06pm 1482188813

the banks are not forcing people to borrow too much money to feed the ponzi, that was the greedy and unaware.
the cycle has turned and those that stayed too long at the table now find the chairs are getting taken away

by Davo36 | 20th Dec 16, 2:41pm 1482198063

I dont agree at all.

I think the auction method sucks for buyers. It really suits agents the most.

by fat pat | 20th Dec 16, 11:50am 1482187830

China's True FX Outflows Since August 2015 Are $1.1 Trillion, Double The Official Number

by rmnz | 20th Dec 16, 11:56am 1482188169

And as another commentator noted on a different story; the measure is now not just sold at the auction, but also includes those completed by the end of the following day. Previous stats used to only be those sold at the auction itself, to which Big Daddy et al would always comment that the clearance rate should actually be higher as they should include those sold after the auction ended. This feels like moving the reporting goalposts so the stats still look OK. Lies, damn lies, and statistics.

by two otherguys | 20th Dec 16, 12:43pm 1482190980

As increased pricing tension emerges between bidder and vendor pricing, it is highly likely that increasing numbers are being submitted to after-auction negotiations. Any sales completed within 24 hours and arising from after-auction negotiations should be included in the auction statistics

by nymad | 20th Dec 16, 12:48pm 1482191320

I don't entirely agree.
An auction is a very different game to that of a two party negotiation. Including them on interest.co.nz might be appropriate(if adequately identified), however it isn't for the mainstream public.
You can all but guarantee that the results will be misrepresented by the rhetoric bashers.

by bw | 20th Dec 16, 1:35pm 1482194131

The Clauses and Conditions that can attach to an 'after auction negotiation' can bear little resemblance to those in place for an auction. Therefore, once the hammer has fallen as "Passed in" it should not be counted as part of the auction statistics.
The number of people who bid at auction without a Builder's Report, for instance, often bring that requirement into play with any subsequent negotiation; or "Subject to Finance" or "Subject to the Sale of (another property)", none of which apply at Auction making it a different category of sale entirely.

by mja | 20th Dec 16, 3:49pm 1482202140

bw, if included as sold by 5pm next day, means they have gone unconditional as at this time. So would be the same sale conditions as at auction Not many people could turn around a building report or unapproved finance in less than 24hrs.

by bw | 20th Dec 16, 4:30pm 1482204632

You could be right. But I do know of a buyer who negotiated on a failed auction last week - the next day; asked for a builder's report ( he then had 10 working days to get it) and signed a conditional contract that the agent said the property was 'sold' to him, given that the vendor has remedy rights etc if the report came in adversely, and the vendor could not sell to another party in that time. I guess 'sold' and 'sold' can mean different things to different people !

by muntijaqi | 20th Dec 16, 2:00pm 1482195620

If prices keep falling.. can we still use the term "property ladder"?

by OpenPensionResolutn | 20th Dec 16, 2:16pm 1482196614

Property snake. Hisssss!

by Yvil | 20th Dec 16, 5:27pm 1482208024

Prices haven't fallen yet, volume of sales has

by Zachary Smith | 20th Dec 16, 5:38pm 1482208680

Exactly, same commenters were saying exactly the same thing this time last year and prices went up.

by CJ099 | 20th Dec 16, 10:18pm 1482225480

Oh come on, we all know that as soon as sale volumes fall then so do prices soon after. Not everyone can hunker down, some will try to get out as soon as possible. Others will have to sell due to a variety of reasons such as; death, divorce and job relocation.

I guess Auckland's property prices might not fall quite as sharply as Vancouver's in the past few months, oh and their sales we're already cooling before they introduced the foreign buyer tax.

But do you know that Vancouver's Housing Market Has Seen 42% Of Its Money Vanish!
Wasn't that near to what the same percentage that 39% of foreign buyers for Auckland publicized by a certain Real Estate Agency over a year ago? Oh the irony. :)

Anyway here's the article: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/11/15/vancouver-housing-toronto-crea_…

by Zachary Smith | 21st Dec 16, 6:21am 1482254502

According to that article prices in Vancouver haven't dropped hardly at all! You seem to pushing some sort of agenda here CJ099, constantly harping on about how prices are dropping as if writing it will make it so. Prices haven't dropped as far as I can tell.

by CJ099 | 21st Dec 16, 9:28am 1482265702

Again Zachary you haven't listened to the new article link. Carry on putting your head in the sand if you like.

Here's more evidence if you like: Vancouver Housing Market Implodes: Average Home Price Plunges 20% In 1 Month - "The Market Is Devastated"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-18/vancouver-housing-market-implo…

by Roelof | 21st Dec 16, 10:02am 1482267722

I take zerohedge and news media with a pinch of salt... ie,.. verify what they say
Canadian real estate assoc. says different.
down -3% over last 3 mths...
Using the word "devastated".... may be a little dramatic.
http://creastats.crea.ca/natl/index.htm

( scroll down page until u get to a price index table )

And here is the zolo data that zerohedge referred to..
https://www.zolo.ca/vancouver-real-estate/trends

Why are they so disparate.?? I

by Zachary Smith | 21st Dec 16, 10:49am 1482270551

CJ099 is a "victim" of fake news again by the looks of it.

by CJ099 | 21st Dec 16, 11:31am 1482273072

Oh good grief! Look I don't actually care one way or another, as I'll be the one making the profits later down the track. I do care how ever about FTB's, since I don't want them to take on too much risk as that could turn in to negative equity. We can clearly see the market moving from a Sellers market to a Buyers market here in NZ.

I'm just pointing out the factors as to why and why there is also a global shift.

by Zachary Smith | 21st Dec 16, 1:40pm 1482280839

CJ099, surely we are allowed to point out the dodginess of your comments and links. No need for exclamations. We understand that you are not necessarily doing this on purpose but we also don't want to be victims of misinformation like you and think the readers deserve all the "facts".

by CJ099 | 21st Dec 16, 8:23pm 1482305010

Honestly Zac you make me laugh as you pointed out that a BBC link that I post a few days ago was a false news link. Just there is so much consistent information out there and it's all pointing to the same global influences.

I've been through a property crash before in 2008 in the UK and to quote an old English expression "You don't know that you're born". Meaning; you've had it so good all along you haven't experienced the harsh realities of life.

I was lucky, I was able to ride out the crash and make a healthy profit when I sold a year ago, as I'm sure you chaps will be able to ride out a crash. But FTB's who will be taking on high levels of debt and risk to the hilt, may not be so lucky when we see the full effects of global influences.
It's just not right and it really bothers me.

by OpenPensionResolutn | 20th Dec 16, 2:15pm 1482196537

5pm the day after auction. Ha! But why stop there? Why not define 'sold at auction' as 1 week, or even 1 month later? For that matter, why talk the market down with truthful figures when we could just conjure up some happy numbers to avert unwelcome reality?

"Awwww, come on guys, we gave it our best shot, lets just call it sold". 100% clearance! Huzzah!

by lac | 20th Dec 16, 2:43pm 1482198223

Interest rates going up will be the game changer. Next year this time there will smaller % clearance rates and more properties with asking prices on TM in Auckland. Yes, you heard it here first. I am an investor and LVRs, higher rates and low yields are making me very cautious. I am spending a little extra cash of improving my current properties so as to increase yield for the coming years. Too much risk in taking on more properties IMO.
Higher end properties will still do well over the next few years, low end will suffer. FHB will also be cautious in the coming months when they compare rents to monthly mortgage installments.

by Davo36 | 20th Dec 16, 2:48pm 1482198490

I used to sell commercial real estate some years ago.

The likes of Bayleys used to quote stats of around 85 to 90% sold via auction.

The auction agency was for 3 months, one month before, 2 months after. And all sales in that 3 month period counted towards their stats.

The auction itself is only part of the process for the agents. When a property fails to sell the vendor is all cresfallen having just spent thousands on marketing, having made plans to move on, perhaps buy something else they have their heart set on etc.

And the agents use this to swoop in with lower than expected offers saying things like "Well the market has spoken, the highest bid was $xyz, this is as much as you can get, we suggest you take it nowl..."

In other words, it's a conditioning process, with agents actively working against the very people paying them.

by CJ099 | 20th Dec 16, 9:46pm 1482223564

Thanks Davo, and you're quite right the auction sale rates certainly had a much higher level of success only a few months ago though with recent restrictions to Chinese overseas investor over capital flight causing depreciation of the Yuan. We can all see just how much of a hold they have on the NZ and much of the popular cities global market.

I'm guessing NZ buyers will start to work out that they don't need to be so price competitive anymore, well at least until China lifts it's capital out flow restrictions.

by BigDaddy | 20th Dec 16, 4:52pm 1482205925

Why bother with an auction then with all the additional costs and stress?i
Auctions are designed to focus the market on the property, obtain unconditional offers and create competition.
The many auctions I have attended were never a "conditioning process" and the agents were almost always doing their best to represent their clients.
With your jaundiced view of the role of auctions and real estate agents it seems obvious why you no longer sell property for Bayley's .

by KH | 20th Dec 16, 10:58pm 1482227925

I challenge that Big Daddy. The auction event is only part of the process. Serves very well to load risk and costs onto the vendor for example - even if the property does not sell.
Lots of other manipulations also including 'conditioning'.

by Averageman | 20th Dec 16, 11:03pm 1482228183

The main winner at auction is.....the agent/agency. All parties present are focused on one thing only, the sale. Buyers are primed for unconditional offer, sellers front cash for advertising and are mentally primed to sell.
Equals Agents get... paid. Hay...its comission based sales.

by mvgsmf | 21st Dec 16, 9:27am 1482265661

Oops double post

by BigDaddy | 21st Dec 16, 8:37am 1482262675

Agents average income is much lower than you might think.
Quote:
" Making an adjustment for the tax offset of these costs the equivalent annual average salary of a real estate agent in NZ would be around $35,000 which is interestingly below the recently championed “living wage” of $38,000 (18.40 per hour).

http://properazzi.co.nz/insights/how-much-does-a-real-estate-agent-earn

Your ordinary wage earner make almost twice as much.

by Ted Stanton | 21st Dec 16, 3:28pm 1482287311

The number one agent gets all the listings and calls while the new agents earn nothing and are out in 6 months broke and demoralised.

by KH | 21st Dec 16, 9:10am 1482264639

More misinformation from you Big Daddy. We all know well the average wage is low, and we all know and you know it's because the industry sucks in big numbers of wannabe agents and spits our most of then within a year, usually not having made a bean other than the sole sale of their mum and dads house.
It's a sleazy industry, and they feed on their own people as well.
And really ? The 'average' argument. Try harder.

by mvgsmf | 21st Dec 16, 9:28am 1482265699

From what I've seen the RE industry (my own experiences and many friends in it) is a classic Pareto rule example in that 20% of the agents make 80% of the money and the rest are going through the motions so the relevance of the "average income" is minimal.

I would also concur the push for auction is a conditioning process and creates pressure and a call to action for the vendor to sell no matter what the outcome - all for the agents benefit.

I am hoping an industry disruptor for RE ala' UBER / Air BNB is not far as in my view the RE Sales industry in its current form is rotten to its core.

by BigDaddy | 21st Dec 16, 12:10pm 1482275406

For you cynics who deride RE agents work I put to you this: How else should private persons sell their houses?
Private people who try to sell themselves run serious risks in making errors or unable to close deals.
Agents,may at times seem pushy, but it's the only practical way to sell big ticket items.

by zorba - old | 21st Dec 16, 9:53am 1482267189

Well, I sold my parent's house privately, researched the local market, advertised it myself, agreed a price with the final purchaser, put the lawyers in touch with each other and the sale was settled PDQ. No open homes, viewing by appointment only, and not even a photo in the paper..even I was surprised..

by BigDaddy | 21st Dec 16, 12:11pm 1482275471

Good on you, but 95% of people couldn't do that..