sign up log in
Want to go ad-free? Find out how, here.

Sales rate of just over a third at Barfoot & Thompson's latest auctions, with auction numbers remaining low

Property
Sales rate of just over a third at Barfoot & Thompson's latest auctions, with auction numbers remaining low

Barfoot & Thompson sold just over a third of their auction properties last week.

Auckland's largest real estate agency marketed 94 homes for sale by auction last week and had sold 34 of them unconditionally by 5pm the day after their auctions, with most of the rest being passed in for sale by negotiation and a small number that were either withdrawn from sale or had their auction dates postponed.

That gave an overall sales clearance rate of 36% for the week (see table below).

The highest clearance rate of 75% was achieved for properties auctioned on site, although the numbers were small with just four auctioned that way.

There were no sales at a couple of the smaller auctions.

Prices ranged form $58,000 for a unit in a student accommodation block in the CBD that was sold by mortgagee sale, to $3.297 million for a property in Glendowie.

The full results with the prices achieved on the properties that sold are available on our Residential Auction Results page.

Barfoot & Thompson Auction Results: 31 July - 6 August 2017
Date/Venue Sold Not sold Total  % Sold
31 July - 6 August. On site. 3 1 4 75%
1 August. Shortland St, CBD. 4 6 10 40%
1 August. Manukau. 2 9 11 18%
2 August. Shortland St, CBD. 7 9 16 44%
2 August. Shortland St: Mortgagee/High Court. 2 1 3 67%
2 August. Pukekohe. 0 2 2 Nil
3 August. Shortland St. CBD. 0 3 3 Nil
3 August. North Shore. 5 15 20 25%
3 August. Kerikeri. 1 1 2 50%
3 August. Shortland St, CBD. 3 3 6 50%
4 August. Shortland St, CBD. 7 10 17 42%
Total 34 60 94 36%
*Sold includes properties sold under the hammer or by 5pm the following day. Not sold includes properties remaining unsold by 5pm the following day and properties that were withdrawn from sale or that had their auction date postponed.

 

 

We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.

Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.

91 Comments

I can see that Barfoot's agents are trying their very best to present their videos differently to capture more audience e.g. this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9DqC3MgzOw
Credit to them really, and well done.

Up
0

bargain for 2 million provided you can sell it to someone else for much more money. looks leaky though. Buyer must have a high risk appetite.

Up
0

Why should I watch this video? What fell clickbaitery is this? I refuse to support B&Ts viewer count.

Anyway, I'm too relaxed enjoying my G&T and watching the sun set over Capitalgainesville. It's most beautiful, in its own way...

Up
0

Enjoy it whilst it lasts DGZ. The auction results are about to get a lot worse now that China is clamping down on capital flight even more severely from the news we had this morning.

I see the 'on site' auctions are giving far better results since they're selling to the local inhabitants. :)

Up
0

Wonder if B&T, Harcourts etc. are aiding people to break Chinese law.

Up
0

Even if they do, would they be so foolish to let everyone know? You will never find out.

Up
0

No but the PBoC (People’s Bank of China) will find out. :)

China’s PBoC Announces An Army of Over 400,000 To Prevent Money Laundering
https://betterdwelling.com/chinas-pboc-announces-an-army-of-over-400000…

Up
0
Up
0

These are a very strong set of weekly auctions from Barfoots, Auckland's largest real estate agency. It is winter so auctions are used primarily to gather prospective purchasers and first home buyers into warm rooms, not to sell a mixed bag of tier two properties. These are like entree's for the upcoming spring season when it is warmer and pent up demand will be released . Like Drosophila the majority of home purchasers are temperature sensitive. When overlapped with upcoming elections it takes longer for home purchasers to react . I am told that in spring many people will have regained use of their arms and unlike many commentators on this site who twist data to support 45-55 percent falls in the Auckland market will again be shown that increases in temperature are directly correlated to rising house sales .

Up
0

Haha that's good material, so the purchases at the moment at the auction rooms are still a chilly , txt them to bump it up to 25, spring in a few weeks tho

Up
0

Considering that video was from August 2015, I don't see what your point is! We all know things were stupid 2 years ago - today it's a different story.

Up
0

Yes we are tried of poor auction results news. If only they could sell more houses and keep the bubble going.

Up
0

With the market dropping quite quickly I cant understand why vendors are still choosing to go to auction, I just wastes alot of time and money. better to put a price on it and get negotiating for a quicker sale.

Wasting a month in this market could lose you a lot.

Up
0

Agree. Like having the wrong bait for fishing. Still you always hope the big fish/wallet comes along but that chinese wallet has retreated to offshore waters. More often the little fish nibble all the bait as the big hook dosent fit, being auction costs and marketing fees.

Auction is a great option on a bull market, who knows what will be paid. In a bear market only really suits the agent tries force a sale on all parties.

Up
0

Yeah, you end up spending a fortune in bait and having to buy fish n chips on the way home

Up
0

Fish and chips with a set price!

Up
0

The agents have very very persuasive ways of getting vendors to sign up for auctions. Auctions benefit agents more than anyone.

Up
0

I am surprised that more sellers aren't requesting to sell via tender in Auckland. Potentially you can get higher prices as it means the buyer will usually bid their their top price to secure it, which doesn't usually occur when selling at auctions, as the winner only has the best the other bidders. In some cases agents may not always be achieving the best price for their vendor when selling via auction. But I guess auctions are a lot easier

Up
0

The tenders would be low ball offers, you need your house to stand out above the rest, but still a tender could be the one, often in a downward market you need to jump ahead of everyone else or you'll miss out asking yourself 6 months later why didn't I, or I should have taken that good or first offer

Up
0

I think auctions make sense in a market where it's hard to know what the value is.

I suspect many agents are using auctions to give unrealistic vendors a wake up call as to what the place is actually worth. People won't accept $1m if they have $1.1m-$1.2m in their head. If they go to auction and top bid is only $950k then that $1m offer starts to look a whole lot better don't it?

Up
0

mmm.
I sort of agree.
Auctions only make sense when they can efficiently achieve a clearance. If there is not a guaranteed end result of settlement, relative to the highest bid, they offer no benefit over a tender process.

But, as you say, they are useful for realigning expectations.

Up
0

If they take it or they're wasting everyone's time, I've sold heaps of property and if it's a boom , auction but if not I like the offers over, you can set the price but go a little low and see what happens

Up
0

Hi Davo36,

Agree - vendors and purchasers alike need to closely consider what might be the ulterior motives of real estate agents, before accepting their advice.

Some agents can't necessarily be relied upon to take positions which are in the best interests of their clients.

That's why the REAA is needed - and, in fact, why it's kept so busy investigating complaints about agents.

Up
0

We could all be a little positive and start shopping for another property.
Buy one now! it will get even more expensive because we are getting extra 70,000 people every year and interest rates can only stay this low for a short time.

Up
0

Well the block auction could be worth watching this season.

Up
0

I would assume they line up potential buyers (via agencies) at the very early stages. Would not be a good look for Media Works to have all those sponsors associated with a product that failed at auction.

Up
0

Good point what level of disclosure is required for parties associated with the vendor or agents and how "associated" do u have to be?

Up
0

Given it's all a smoke and mirrors TV show.... I bet zilch. They'll play some disclaimer really quickly in font 5 at the bottom of the screen

"portions of this auction that are deemed to run against the spruiking nature of the program have been removed. All bidders are actors and have received compensation for their performance"

Kind of like Judge Judy, where no ruling is actually paid by the people, it's paid by the media co. Don't start me ranting on that one....

Up
0

I agree, this may be what seriously affects mainstream public sentiment and speeds up the pop if there is a poor result. There will be a lot of confused looks from those that aren't in the loop with recent price trends.

Up
0

Nothing like a public bloodbath to frighten the masses.

Maybe Bill, Paula, and Gerry will have to stump up some of their own cash to maintain the perception that all is good in the world.

Up
0

"a public bloodbath"

Up
0

You have to go swimming in Melbourne for that, right?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=118999…

Up
0

Imagine if you had your head under the water, makes you wonder why there and now

Up
0

Wouldn't hurt to track the results from season one. I am sure last year's prices were a bit harder to extract than previous years'

Up
0

The auction prices appear higher than I may have picked. The two previous sales data I looked at both had 2012 sales which were around half the current auction results - confirming a doubling in five years. Those people buying haven't heard about a bubble bursting.

Up
0

Or they have and dont care, just getting on with life. Or they dont think its anything more than normal market corrective activity. Or they are buying at discounts and are part of the reason prices are dropping?

Up
0

Perhaps you're getting confused with Money Launders Laminar? They're the ones that are happy to dispose of as much cash as possible.

Real honest hard working people have a budget that RE' s try to con them in to getting in to as much debt as possible based on the false assumption that house prices will always go up.

Up
0

Just to be clear, are you arguing that some significant portion of the current buying activity is fueled by laundered money?
Pro tip: almost everything goes up in value over time.

Up
0

"Pro tip: almost everything goes up in value over time."

That's what this group of people said / hoped....

Investors in the South Sea Company 1720
Buyers of Tulips in 1636
Florida builders 1925
Dot com investors 1999
Anyone who bought a house in Japan since the 90's
Anyone who bought a house in Ireland 10 years ago

*Not an exhaustive list*

...

Up
0

The South Sea Company was a sign of success.

Up
0

If owner occupiers are buying and selling in the same market then I don't think it would worry you. If you were an FHB or an investor,if you bought a house right now I think you need your head read. This is what the market looks like stripped of FHBs and investors. It's not that pretty.

Up
0

Id buy at 15% discount on this time last year, happily. At 30% down id still be smiling and buy another.

Up
0

https://www.ft.com/content/5e692f82-7b45-11e7-9108-edda0bcbc928

“A lot of Chinese view domestic assets as overvalued, whether it’s real estate or bonds. So there’s still fundamental demand from them for overseas assets that will continue, which doesn’t depend on expectations about the exchange rate,” said Mr Xiao

When will Chinese investors consider Auckland property is overvalued? Or have they done so already?

Up
0

When will Chinese investors consider Auckland property is overvalued? Or have they done so already?

Those are the million dollar questions. The sheeple will have to lock into the La-Z-Boy and ponder the dream that a Chinese national is going to fork over a king's ransom for their suburban bolthole.

Chinese decision making is complex: some savvy, some lucky, some just downright wrong-headed. No different to anywhere else.

China's Dalian Wanda Group is looking to exit Australian developments and their M&A activity is looking similar to Japanese corporate behavior at the peak of their bubble.

http://www.afr.com/real-estate/commercial/development/as-beijing-gets-t…

I think most people are best to stay in the warmth and comfort of the La-Z-Boy and hope money from China comes gushing their way.

Up
0

I'm guessing here a bit but I would imagine that the Chinese "investors" would have been spending money here based upon word of mouth: about the killing to be made.
It won't be long before the word of mouth may not be saying such positive things.

Up
0

I think that the motivations for Chinese purchasers of foreign property are numerous and extend beyond "making a motza." That's more of a localized motivation. It's likely they can't believe how relatively easy it is to park money in NZ, but that's a phenomenon across the Anglosphere.

Up
0

Well making a killing was a bit of a bonus but prime reason was more likely to be a hidey hole for their money, better than laundering through a casino, eh, not much capital gain to be had there without Lady Luck well and truly on your side

Up
0

If I was to make a wild guess about the Chinese investors and local investors mostly hunting capital gains I would go ~ Chinese largely hit Auckland early and the mid to higher price bracket and special areas and local investors seeing large gains hitting Auckland a bit later mostly cheaper to middle price range giving thousands of locals enough money to try different towns, we see that in the order other places climbed in prices like firstly Hamilton, Tauranga etc etc, it's easy to see why it happened and just as easy to see it's end, affordability is the key and always will be

Up
0

Low auction clearance rates is a leading sign of further price drops. Local buyers are capped to what they can borrow. Clearance rates can only go up again if sellers lower their price to realistic levels. I would pick the price going back down to what it should have been before this Tulip Mania started. 2014 CV levels would be a good indication.

http://www.thebubblebubble.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Tulipomania.g…

Up
0

The Chinese WERE part and the start of the boom that was, but normal nz locals had just as big if not bigger part in the boom that was, You go talk to people out side auckland, Like Hamilton, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and many more and they'll mostly say the same thing, they are being overtaken by Aucklanders, For so many large areas to say that with there house prices going through the roof means Aucklanders have been leaving Auckland by the thousands and looking how rental prices haven't really lifted that much compared to immigration numbers means has the Auckland population even moved, So with the very high numbers of investor dept and the large drop off lately the remaining Aucklands have had a very large part of buying investment property for stupid prices even at low rents for the thought of capital gains, In a flat market that would be over but a dropping market 10 x worse , You won't see them for years, there might be a plus side, sooner or later Aucklanders won't be able to leave because of bad sales, investors will trim back and immigration might push rental prices up a bit, but by then you would think Auckland housing to have gotten more affordable, hopefully it stays affordable, But Auckland needs a lot of questions answered to stay this way, why are sections so expensive, why is building so expensive, if appartments are the answer for FHB,s why are they so expensive, Ozzies heaps cheaper, family's will just keep leaving if given the chance , overseas investors and greed , what a mix

Up
0

..this is the plan. Make it unbearable for Joe Kiwi, force him/her out to other lands, then scream labour shortages and continue to flood NZ with foreigners. Way less mess than a military invasion. We are being played and too greedy to see it.

Up
0

Chinese government are tighten their capital outflow even more from Aug 21st 2017 any capital over 200 nzd leaving the country has to reported by the banks within 24 hrs to the government with a written explanation saying why is it leaving........so if you thought more Chinese money was coming.......I wouldn't bank on it

Up
0

Please show your references.

Up
0

China’s PBoC Announces An Army of Over 400,000 To Prevent Money Laundering
https://betterdwelling.com/chinas-pboc-announces-an-army-of-over-400000…

For this one, I recommend using Google Chrome and hitting translate to English
http://www.safe.gov.cn/

Up
0

It's on this website. 90 seconds at 9am.

Up
0

Churr! Missed that, ta!

Up
0

Please don't show anything. Tell him you dreamed about it last night LOL!

Up
0

Hi DGZ,

Always good to read your pearls of wisdom!

How's the Remuera market these days?

A little bird tells me it's still bubbling away nicely!

Up
0

@tothepoint thanks for asking. In your FB a/c search for 'We Love Remuera', click on the page and you will see the first video clip with the latest update on the Remuera housing market for both buyers and sellers. Happy watching and let me know if you like it!
P.s. remember the word 'aspirational'

Up
0

Oh you're hilarious DGZ. Yes most FTB's have a few million to spare on their $350k average Remuera salaries. Hang on! You're still in your dream DGZ, time to wake up now. Are you sure not getting 'aspirational' confused with 'unattainable'?

Up
0

No I'm not dreaming. Living in Remuera is like living in 'Unimatrix Zero', our own sanctuary, insulated from all the fluctuations we're seeing out there, and away from the riff-raff. It's not a dream. We co-exist in our aspirational world, but very much still a real world.

Up
0

Ahh.. You're definitely Zachary alright, only a breath away from prattling on about Elysium. And the whole co-exist thing isn't going to last. Time to embrace your fellow Kiwi in their gumboots and string vests, as the the 'riff-raff' will also partake of the joys of Remuera with the sliding property prices.

Up
0

Zachary doesn't live in Remuera. He lives in Epsom, but We both love Remuera LOL!

Up
0

Riff Raff

I would rather be Riff Raff any day, at least we know how to have fun and enjoy life for what it is, not have labels to prove ourselves. Plus we dont get sore necks from looking down on people and dont get sore backs from patting ourselves on the back.

One day you may be able to join in with a singalong, with a guitar at a rugby club or garage near you and understand what its like to be in a real community with great friends that like you for who you are.

Heres a person, who I rate, and I rate his business, and hes nowhere near Remers. Its amazing what some Riff Raff are able to achieve.

"Rod Drury lives in a "high tech townhouse" in Havelock North, Hawke's Bay region with his family, and is of Ngai Tahu descent."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Drury

Up
0

Here's how we enjoy life in our riff-raff 1050 land. Cowpat would agree with me lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IPjMjZIRRQ

Up
0

Double GZ , evening,unfortunately for security reasons our computers will be unable to upload as content may be inappropriate. I will possibly use the library tomorrow.

Up
0

Yep looks great.

Try this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgbHRLMqCbU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hoBp7Hk-A

Aah life is great get out and about see whats out there, mind you if coffee and cake at Remers floats your boat your more then welcome to it.

Up
0

Does Zachary/DGZ really believe any of us are envious of him living in Remuera? I am sick of reading his sanctimonious views. Let me spell it out to you Zach/DGZ - the majority of us, if we had millions of dollars to spend, would not buy a house in over-crowded Remuera or Epsom. We would live further afield with space to breathe and room to roam. Most of us would choose to live near uncrowded beaches, or in stunning countryside, not in streets where visitors can't find a car park space, or where it takes 10 minutes to turn out of your road. The grammar school enticement is long gone - most New Zealanders don't want their children to be outnumbered by Chinese pupils 10-1. So please stop repeating yourself in every single comments section - we get that you like Remuera, but us, with different values, don't.

Up
0

That's right on, I went to Auckland about 3 weekends ago, bloody hell, the motorway was shit, I went to mobile city in Epsom which was a utter joke , cars stacked everywhere, even in housing roads, no one speaks English, I don't mind Asian, meet some nice ones at a coffee shop but bloody hell I could have been in China in a dream needing a slap , talk about taking immigration to extremes, then into the city to the university, even worse, I couldn't speak Chinese so I was stuffed, started driving around to find a motel, shit hole after shit hole, got one in mt Eden that was ok, went out for dinner, no car parks anywhere, had to go to new Lyn and the middlemore hospital the next day, what a dive , had to get out of there for a holiday and breath , the north shore seems ok or anywhere on the outskirts, not surprised so many kiwi are leaving, you can drive around so many better places for motels, car parks , gas station, cheap housing, places like Hamilton and Tauranga and others will just keep get more popular and specially with the cheaper new housing, Aucklands future is a slum

Up
0

Rule #0 of the internet: Don't feed the trolls.

He's just a sad little man who replies to himself when nobody else will bite.

Up
0

Most NZers choose to live in urban areas. Chinese kids have a bad reputation for being studious and not being ashamed of wearing polished shoes and occasionally having smelly lunches - so my kids inform me. Parents don't have to worry about the Chinese kids being violent, disruptive and stealing stuff which is something. All anecdotal of course.

Up
0

Nothing wrong with Chinese pupils. In fact, they are all very smart, adorable and kind hearted. Just because you do not get a chance to live in the zone doesn't mean that everything here is undesirable. Just because you can't find a car park space doesn't mean that our streets are not tree-lined and welcoming.

Up
0

Yes and mostly I would want to live there as I would want to be as far away from DGZ/Zac as possible. They lower the tone of the neighborhood.

Up
0

Chyna has suddenly stopped buying foreign property
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-overseas-property-investment-u…

Up
0

"Chyna has suddenly stopped buying foreign property."

But China has not.

Up
0

You obviously didn't read the article did you 'tothepoint' why because you're RE and lack the mental capacity! As well as trying to get FTB's in hock to the eye balls!

Quote from article: The sudden absence of China explains, in part, the recent softness in the London property market. Residential prices in London began falling in the last few months.

London and the UK are particularly vulnerable to a pullback of Chinese investment. Last year, Chinese money was 25% of all central London commercial property purchases. Back in 2006, was only 1%. In the City area of London, however, almost all buyers are foreigners, with Asians making half of all purchases:

Read it again: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/china-overseas-property-investment-u…

Up
0

"You obviously didn't read the article did you 'tothepoint' why because you're RE "

Obviously, you've missed the point.

Up
0

Is that supposed to be a rebuttal 'tothepoint"? If so it's a very feeble attempt, bit like your logic thinking that Auckland's property prices are always going up when they're clearly going down.
And you never bring any evidence do you to support you redicioulas notions.

Up
0

Some suburbs are still going up MoM and YoY. I am sure tothepoint is referring to the standalone houses in the inner city suburbs.

Up
0

Not according to the auction results they're not. Those tiny sales volumes will gradually drag all of Auckland down. A bit like a melting snowman :)

Up
0

You use the words 'will' and 'gradually' meaning it is not happening yet so let's discuss about it in the 'future' when it happens.

Up
0

CJ009 is one of us, a Darklord. He sold his rental or rentals on what he hopes is a high point so that he can buy later at a big discount pocketing the rest. That's why he incessantly pushes this agenda.
Personally I would be mortified to sell my property for a high price to a family only to see the price drop later. I would rather hold on. It takes all types I guess.

Up
0

Actually Zachary, the last property I sold at the hight of the market was because my Tenants had decided to emigrate because they found NZ and especially Auckland was far too unaffordable for them to hope to ever buy their own home. But now that the market has changed they may return in the future when prices are more affordable.

As for becoming a Landlord again. That depends on a lot of factors on major one is investing in a stable rental market which I think the Auckland one will become flooded in the next six months when people try to rent out their property rather than sell, since they're reluctant to accept a lower realistic price.

And sure if you want to hold out there's nothing wrong in that, we can watch your Capital Gains drain away together.
Weren't you down - $300k and counting in one of your last comments. How we're the bakebeans? :)

Up
0

Thanks for confirming what I wrote.

Up
0

Like I said before. I"m pretty sure it went to another investors since I saw it up for rental not long after I sold it.
Nice try Zachary ;)

Up
0

Forgot about the bakebeans. Zachary you are welcome to join me for BBQ in the evenings in my covered outdoor area since it will be raining for the rest of the week.

Up
0

Thanks Double-GZ you are a gentleman. Actually baked beans, a fried egg and a slice of bacon is one of my favourite meals. I don't understand why we get so much flak as we are always upbeat unlike many of our detractors who just come across as awful hobgoblins.

Up
0

Thought for the day are Baked beans baked.

Up
0

Mostly stewed according to Wikipedia. Heinz brand tastes best.

Up
0

Obviously going by the total numbers of properties going to auction its no longer the way to sell in the current market. The current market looks to be back in the by negotiation territory and the frenzied buying is over for the time being with sellers needing to be prepared for the sales process to take longer. Properties in this country turn over far too often anyway and people often move for the sake of change and there are often just crazy reasons to sell like the back yard is not big enough for the kids to play in when you have a regional park just down the road.

Up
0

Been keeping an eye on the Raglan market for some time. Most remarkable thing now, is the number of properties with asking prices on them and "Price reduced" or something along those lines in their headlines.

Up
0