Auckland's largest real estate agency sold just under half of the properties it marketed for sale by auction last week.
Barfoot & Thompson marketed 85 residential properties for sale by auction and achieved sales on 41 of them, giving an overall sales clearance rate of 48%.
The biggest auction was on the North Shore where 26 properties were scheduled for auction and 14 were sold, giving a clearance rate of 54%.
At Barfoot's head office in Shortland Street in the CBD, 18 properties were offered on February 7, most of them in central Auckland suburbs such as Mt Albert, Mt Eden, Ellerslie and Glendowie, and 10 were sold, giving an overall clearance rate of 56%.
However properties in west Auckland are selling less readily. At Barfoot's auction on 9 February, where most of the homes offered were in suburbs such as Massey, Titirangi and Glen Eden, only three of the 13 properties were sold, giving a clearance rate of just 23%.
Things were also a bit weaker at Barfoot's city auction on 8 February, where most of the properties in suburbs such as Onehunga, Lynfield, and Avondale were passed in.
Details of all the properties offered are available on our Residential Auction Results page.
| Date | Venue | Sold | Not Sold | Total | % Sold |
| 5-11 February | On site | 5 | 3 | 8 | 63% |
| 5 February | Mt Albert | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100% |
| 7 February | Mortgagee/High Court | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100% |
| 7 February | Shortland St, CBD. | 10 | 8 | 18 | 56% |
| 7 February | Pukekohe | 2 | 1 | 3 | 67% |
| 8 February | North Shore | 14 | 12 | 26 | 54% |
| 8 February | Shortland St, CBD. | 5 | 10 | 15 | 33% |
| 9 February | Shortland St, CBD. | 3 | 10 | 13 | 23% |
| Total | All venues | 41 | 44 | 85 | 48% |
13 Comments
Increasing house prices in various other regions (including Wellington) will underpin Auckland values.
The NZ economy is strong (with low interest rates and low unemployment) and that together with demographic pressures (especially in Auckland) means there's little prospect of a significant fall in house prices.
I know there are people here who eagerly anticipate a sizeable "correction" in house prices - and they're entitle to keep hoping. But they could do worse than have a "Plan B" if their hopes aren't realised.
Finally, too much focus on auction clearance rates is a dangerous thing. There are far better indicators for assessing the housing market.
TTP
It is a mystery to me why you think Wellington would support Auckland prices. Wellington has shifted, often by Auckland investors paying well over the odds for property. However, lots of signs of it stabilising.
The Auckland market was not supported by demographics (common myth) because if it was rentals would have gone up as much as prices. In fact as prices/rentals went up people reconfigured (stayed at home longer, more flatmates to a unit). An extra one person in every fifth house is accommodation for about 300,000 people.
What has driven up prices is speculation - and that can either slowly deflate or quickly deflate. Looks like it is the former.
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.