Plenty of bidders but not many sales at the latest apartment auctions

Property

Buyers were active but there were only a couple of sales at the latest Auckland apartment auctions

24th May 18, 2:57pm by Greg Ninness

There was good interest in most of the apartments on offer at this week's main Auckland apartment auctions, although only a couple were sold under the hammer.

At Barfoot & Thompson's Thursday morning auction a three level terrace house in Flat bush and an industrial building in Onehunga were the only properties on offer.

The terrace house was on three levels and had three bedrooms and a tandem carpark and had a pre-auction offer of $750,000 on it, which had been accepted subject to a better offer being received at auction.

But there were no bids on it and it was sold at the pre-auction offer price of $750,000.

However, there were multiple bids on the industrial property at Onehunga and it sold under the hammer for $2.58 million (details of this property and other commercial property sales are available on our Commercial Property Sales page.)

At Ray White City Apartments six apartments were scheduled to be auctioned but one was postponed, leaving five to go under the hammer.

There were multiple bids on four of them and a single bidder on the fifth, but only one sold under the hammer - a studio in the Winsun Heights building on Vincent St, and the others were all passed in for sale by negotiation.

Details of all the properties offered and the prices achieved on those that sold are available on our Residential Auction Results page.

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19 Comments

by Nic Johnson | 24th May 18, 3:17pm 1527131854

People seriously still want to buy apartments? Just wait six months and have a house instead. Winter is coming to this debt fuelled bubble.
What would be interesting with these articles is where the low bidding got to, 20/30/40% under GV? before being passed in. That's a real story.

by Zack Brando | 24th May 18, 5:52pm 1527141141

So in 6 months you believe house prices in Auckland will reduce to today's price for an apartment .. I suppose it could happen, depends if home owners and speculators are desperate to sell, which I'm not seeing.

It's more likely house prices stay high for the next 6 months as ever more migrants pack into rental properties to pay the outrageous mortgages their landlords have taken on.

'Overcrowding' is a lifestyle subsidy paid to Auckland landlords?

by Nzdan | 24th May 18, 5:48pm 1527140902

No we only ever hear about the properties that sold, as in, met the sellers expectations. What are the sellers expectations? 2017 cv I imagine is a good benchmark rather than pulling some arbitrary number.

Then Zach Smith goes and plugs all those successful numbers into his abacus and voila “house prices remain stable”.

by swapacrate | 25th May 18, 12:17am 1527164229

That's why I think the houses that don't sell are worth "zero". No one buys them so no money has changed hands, so nada. My assumption is just as valid as Z's.

Then work out the average. That means a crash ;).

But seriously, people are looking and not buying since sellers are not meeting the market. Fingers crossed the buyers will win this war..... Apparently there are a lot of rentals out there owned by brilliant landlords, no rush in buying. See where this market heads.

by tothepoint - d… | 24th May 18, 3:44pm 1527133482

Hi Nic Johnson,

I wouldn't be so sure of that.

The NZ economy is in a sweet spot and confidence in the property market is higher than it was a few months ago.......

Some have even suggested that winter will be skipped this year - and replaced with an "early spring".

Certainly, the "imminent collapse in house prices" that certain people here have been talking about for a very long time hasn't happened - and that situation is destined to continue.

TTP

by Nic Johnson | 24th May 18, 6:36pm 1527143816

TTP.

I see ANZ have just gone to the market to raise $500,000,000 debt with a 5 year bond offering at 3.7%. That's tight margins and surprising as funding could be purchased for a lot less on the money markets, unless of course you are deemed to be carrying a bit more risk than other institutions.

The market is not all supply and demand . Page 2 of your junior school economics book will alert you to the reality of liquidity and its availability. March 2008 everything was rosy in the UK property market. By December no one could borrow, no buyers meant that if you had to sell (and many did because they breached their lending covenants) then you were facing a 30% haircut.

Now I know that that never happens in New Zealand so I'm sure its nothing for us to lose any sleep on. Prices fell 3.1% in UK between March and April 2018 - just one month, but it can't happen in New Zealand so don't worry.

by tothepoint - d… | 24th May 18, 5:59pm 1527141574

Hi Nic Johnson,

I agree with the thrust of your final paragraph: house prices are unlikely to fall by a sizeable amount in NZ. But I never say "can't" - because, for example, a major public health crisis that wiped out, say, 20 per cent of the NZ population might well lead to a significant fall in house prices.

In any case, comparing UK circumstances with NZ is futile: it would be like comparing apples with bananas. We simply don't have the oversupply of houses that various other countries had - which notoriously precipitated their downward price corrections.

The UK (especially Ireland) and numerous other counties such as Spain, Portugal, USA and certain parts of Australia have had vast oversupplies of dwellings. In stark contrast, NZ has a shortage of houses, as well as low interest rates and people from abroad clambering to live here.

Further, NZ has steeply rising construction costs and a dire shortage of qualified tradesmen (ask anyone building a house here right now) which further underpins prices of the existing housing stock.

So, those people who come here talking about the worst possible housing market scenarios from abroad and claiming they are about to be replicated in NZ are, frankly, talking through a hole in their neck.......

As noted by a wise and astute colleague, "American-fried Kentucky theory need not apply to NZ."

TTP

by Nic Johnson | 4th Jun 18, 2:38pm 1528079935

TTP

First of all no one would like for you to be in the 20% that got wiped out so I hope you've had your Flu jab this year?

However beyond thoughts of a flu-pandemic, sometimes it takes a bit of experience of other things, beyond this is how it's always been in NZ to be able to see a paradigm shift. I have always made money out of property, but now I'm not. No complaints its served me well but I won't king Canute against the tide and only those that have fallen for the trap in a big way would do so - the sensible will get into something else - actually already have at when the writing started appearing on the wall at the end of 2016 when volumes started collapsing.

Lets see shall we, prices fell month on month in 5 of NZ's major centres between March and April Auckland, Welly and Tauranga by over 2% in a month. Liquidity (which courtesy of the Aussie banks) has been plentiful, with very little prudency of the lending practices is now being exposed to the world's debt markets.. I wonder by what percentage April - May will reveal. No ones buying flats by the looks of it and ANZ is raising cash in the bond market. Westpac - ooops is all you could say about the Chairman's blunder.

You've possibly never seen the impact of credit tightening on leveraged debt. Its why Toys r Us are no more (along with many others to come) and financing becomes a beauty parade when things get tight.

by Nic Johnson | 24th May 18, 6:19pm 1527142764

TTP

'UK (especially Ireland)' check out the validity of that one. You may want to read a bit more than whatever NZPIF send you each month .

Actually I need to explain that don't I? Ireland is not in the UK TTP

Best

Nic

by gingerninja | 24th May 18, 6:23pm 1527142983

TTP the UK is NOT IRELAND.

Eire is a separate country.

There was NEVER an oversupply of housing in the UK. The UK post-GFC housing crash was unrelated to supply or demand and caused by the credit crunch and change in sentiment. There is currently a shortage of housing in the UK and yet house prices have flatlined and in London, actually crashing.

by Nic Johnson | 24th May 18, 6:34pm 1527143651

Gingerninja

You forgot educate TTP to the fact that the UK also tried to populate its way out of the debt crisis by building very little but adding between 4-6 million people to the population (over 8 or 9 years) to place pressure on housing and stem the crash in asset prices. but like here - not many of the people actually arrived with any money!

Thatsmorethepoint TTP - unregulated credit expansion is what has happened and the Southern Hemisphere banks will (if Italy or China don't beat them to it) be the cause of GFC2

by tothepoint - d… | 24th May 18, 6:46pm 1527144364

Hi Nic Johnson and Gingerninja,

I concede you are correct on this point - and I'll take it on the chin. (But Ireland ain't to far away - and it's not the only example.)

Interesting that you haven't come up with a more substantive argument to use.

TTP

by Nic Johnson | 24th May 18, 7:20pm 1527146435

- it's too far away. Not to far away TTP

Okay so UK average house price currently £227,000 (and falling) - circa NZ$447,000

Somehow thanks to Aunty Westpac and Uncle ANZ - and a bit of stupidity from more than a few sheeple. NZ average price is apparently over $650,000.

No diversity of economy, agriculture and tourism are not uncommon to most countries. No real banking sector (that's Australian) and even Goldman Sachs thought it not worth their while staying in Auckland - no money you see, everything had already been sold to the Chinese - now I'm being disingenuous, Goldman have retained a staff of 2 and the cleaner, but moved everything else to Australia. What I ask TTP is going to provide the income to keep all this up? Fonterra can't make a profit last quarter despite a monopoly (our cows are also sick and we've taught the Chinese to do what we were really good at doing) and our biggest construction firm Fletcher have been able to lose money in a monopoly too. How do we pay for all the mortgages TTP. Magic wand and a money tree? Or do we ask Gandalf to help us again? How many more books did Tolkein write and does anyone understand the Silmarillion? Is Jackson available?

by Groen_mamba | 24th May 18, 3:49pm 1527133770

Corelogic reports 38% of sales in April to investors with yields just over 3%, and capital gains decreasing. Does anyone know why they are still so active?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/104182677/low-interest-rates-no-good-t…

by Nic Johnson | 24th May 18, 4:25pm 1527135937

Easy - its because Andrew King of NZPIF is a actually a world renowned hypnotist and he hasn't clicked his fingers yet? But, when he does (which will probably be after him and his mate Tony Alexander have sold out), the panic will begin.
'Click, click and your back in the room, oh yes and there is a liquidity crisis happening, so everything I told you before, ignore it, Sell!.'

by printer8 | 24th May 18, 3:52pm 1527133965

ASB housing confidence survey a few days ago suggested expectations were for increasing prices.
Clearly these apartment auction results with only a couple sold, suggest vendors do have high expectations.
Unfortunately, despite reported good interest, only a couple of apartments sold under the hammer so clearly purchases have a very different view.
I suggest that purchasers and not vendors will determine future prices and these results are not good news for vendors (apartments or houses).
We are in for an interesting winter come spring.

by Chairman Moa | 24th May 18, 5:27pm 1527139626

"Buyers were active but there were only a couple of sales at the latest Auckland apartment auctions" something wong here

by Nzdan | 24th May 18, 5:51pm 1527141109

Ah yes! This confidence survey must have asked more vendors what their house price inflation expectations are.

by mikekirk29 | 25th May 18, 9:42am 1527198159

"confidence" in the housing market. Such a phrase. Factually it actually refers to seller's perspective that prices will be rising in next few months. This is not "confidence" for buyer is it? Confidence is mood music to be maintained in the industry, for mugs. Because if (God forfend!) people buying got the idea that prices would fall over next few months (as friends, the median and average have been for more than a couple of months thus far) then they will postpone purchasing. This is equivalent, in housing terms, of "deflation" fear. Cannot have people not wanting to buy can we? Also, can we have less cheerleading of FHB please? Buying in a non capital gain market with a debt prospect of 40 years repayment and potential for negative equity for next 5 years? Nice to sell that in truth terms to FHB? I am referring to Auckland of course. By the way, SALES have been lower in this great recovery (Jan-April 2018) than they were in 2012 (which was a better year than 2011) Sales in NSC are 25% lower than in 2012. In Auckland 8.6% lower. Waitakere 5% lower. Only Rodney is up (20%) and that is because housing stock available is up 27% on 2013. And most increase there is section sales. This splurge is a bring forward based on prospect of overseas buyer ban. watch it dissipate after that finally gets passed. Disposable income for renters is evaporating due to rent rises and petrol rises.