Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms getting busier

Property

Prices ranged from $595,000 to $3.25 million at Barfoot & Thompson's latest Auckland auctions

2nd Oct 18, 9:57am by Greg Ninness

Activity in Barfoot & Thompson's auctions rooms has picked up with the spring weather with the agency marketing 180 residential properties for sale by auction last week.

Of those, sales were achieved on 57 giving a sales clearance rate of just under a third.

The highest sales rate was 44% at the Manukau auction where most of the properties offered were from Auckland's southern and eastern suburbs. This was closely followed by the 42% sales rate at the Shortland Street auction on 25 September where most of the properties on offer were from central/fringe suburbs such Mt Roskill, Mt Wellington, Avondale, New Lynn, and New Windsor.

The lowest sales rates at the major auctions where at least 10 properties were offered were the on site auctions and the North Shore auction, which both achieved 20% sales rates.

The most expensive auction sale of the week was a St Heliers house that sold for $3.25 million. The least expensive was a home unit in Henderson that fetched $595,000.

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

**Barfoot & Thompson Residential Auction Results 24-30 September 2018**
Date	Venue	Sold	Not Sold	Total	% Sold
24-30 September	On site	2	8	10	20%
25 September	Manukau	14	18	32	44%
25 September	B&T Shortland St, CBD	5	7	12	42%
26 September	B&T Mortgagee/High Court	0	2	2	0
26 September	B&T Shortland St, CBD.	15	29	44	34%
26 September	Pukekohe	0	2	2	0
27 September	North Shore	8	33	41	20%
27 September	B&T Shortland St, CBD.	4	11	15	27%
28 September	B&T Shortland St, CBD.	9	13	22	41%
Total	All venues	57	123	180	32%

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64 Comments

by theglc | 2nd Oct 18, 10:03am 1538427823

But still only 32% !!!!

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 10:28am 1538429333

And what's happened to the North Shore? This time last year clearance rates were over 70%.

by Mrs The Point | 2nd Oct 18, 10:34am 1538429651

Give it 3 weeks.

by Adam B NZ | 2nd Oct 18, 1:46pm 1538441167

In three weeks their clearance rates may be even lower for the Shore. Have you seen the large amount of stock flooding on? Trademe listings up big time in only a few weeks.

by Adam B NZ | 2nd Oct 18, 3:02pm 1538445721

30 new listings on Trademe so far for the Shore today already!

by BuyLowSellHigh | 2nd Oct 18, 10:18am 1538428723

Most that sold are getting good prices. But the flat market continues I think.

Not sure what proportion of total listings are going to auction, but I'd be more inclined to sell by negotiation or fixed price while things are flat.

by Nzdan | 2nd Oct 18, 10:09am 1538428193

It's getting busier in the auction rooms because there's an abundance of vendors rushing in to sell their properties before the FBB kicks in.

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 10:19am 1538428773

Greg
The headlines are not really displaying the reality are they? Same as yesterday's ''Big jump in new listings as housing market springs back to life after subdued winter'

If we start working towards transparent journalism then what should be written is something along the lines of -
'Auction rooms offering plenty of stock last week, but sales rates were abysmal'
Yesterdays should have been.
'Auckland panics with new listings for September up 1/3 on last year.'

I appreciate that Barfoot provides the data, but if they actually want to earn money selling these houses then helping to transmit the new market reality to sellers would probably be in their best interest as well. This is getting silly it's like reading the Herald.

by BuyLowSellHigh | 2nd Oct 18, 10:30am 1538429452

Was wondering how long it would take you to spit the dummy, Nic.

Greg is probably wishing that he had 'mute' button like on Twitter.

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 10:25am 1538429154

If you are a journalist in my view your headlines should depict the reality of a situation and not a false narrative, otherwise you end up questioning the independence of the author and the news becomes advertising, rather than journalism - I'm sure it's not deliberate, but it is inaccurate.

by tothepoint - d… | 2nd Oct 18, 11:43am 1538433821

I suspect "Nic Johnson" is the same person as "Retired Poppy".

A serious case of "Sore Losers Syndrome" [SLS] if ever there was - angry not to have been in the market 5-10 years ago.

Of dear......

TTP

by Hardly | 2nd Oct 18, 11:47am 1538434035

Some of us were in the market 5-10 years ago and still think prices are unsustainable.

I too question the headline based on the data. Nobody should be afraid of people questioning the words relative to the numbers. But suggesting people should be ‘muted’ because they have a counter view is much less admirable.

I guess the headline is justified based on a higher number of total sales but which is more important, that or the percentage?

by BuyLowSellHigh | 2nd Oct 18, 12:22pm 1538436178

You question the headline because it doesn’t support your narrative. Either that, or interpreting data isn’t your strong suit. More properties auctioned and more sold - IT WAS BUSIER

Edit: Don’t get carried away, I’m definitely not suggesting that anyone should be muted. I’ve said before that I find Nic’s comments entertaining - in the same way that it would be entertaining to watch a monkey pretend to know how to use a calculator.

by Pragmatist | 2nd Oct 18, 12:08pm 1538435289

You get more daft by the day.

by Retired-Poppy | 2nd Oct 18, 5:28pm 1538454539

Pragmatist, don't you mean, more deaf by the hour?

by Shoreman | 2nd Oct 18, 3:57pm 1538449070

TTP - Funny you should say that it has crossed my mind too..........

by Retired-Poppy | 2nd Oct 18, 5:23pm 1538454238

TTP, Shoreman, compliment well received - thank you :) Keep up the good work Nic J!

by ilikewalnuts | 2nd Oct 18, 2:04pm 1538442289

If you would like any comments that are not in line with your opinion to be censored, I recommend you move your activity to stuff.co.nz. I have lived in China for 5 years and I warn that, while most likely in jest, beliefs like yours will lead society down a very very dark road.

by Auckland | 2nd Oct 18, 1:48pm 1538441334

People will start to wonder if the advertising money that interest.co.nz receives from real estate agents could be seen as journalism that is not independent !

by BuyLowSellHigh | 2nd Oct 18, 3:24pm 1538447091

If by "people" you mean conspiracy-minded doom and gloomers, then yes. Your judgement is clouded by the narrative you've been pushing.

The headline that has you people in a tiz is 'Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms getting busier . This is a factual and technically correct statement. There were, quite simply, more properties auctioned and more sold. There was more activity at the auctions - this meets the dictionary definition of "busier".

by Hardly | 2nd Oct 18, 6:56pm 1538459796

It is one interpretation of the data. The other is ‘clearance rates remain in the dump’

by BuyLowSellHigh | 2nd Oct 18, 8:07pm 1538464066

If you disagree with the headline you’ve interperated more sales and more properties auctioned than last time to be less busy. The data isn’t that complicated, and you’ve interpreted it wrong if you’re saying the auction room was less busy than last time.

You’re confusing “busy” with “successful”. And even then, the clearance rate was pretty much the same as last time.

by Greg Ninness | 2nd Oct 18, 2:27pm 1538443672

You are welcome to stick with the Herald nic.

by mfd | 2nd Oct 18, 2:37pm 1538444253

I for one appreciate the journalism here, I'd certainly go with your interpretation over Stuff or NZ Herald. I can imagine the tedium of selecting a headline each week for essentially the same story. This one seems pretty benign so I'm not sure why it's causing such a fuss - the data is all presented right here for us all to see and discuss and would be a nightmare for us to aggregate ourselves.

by tothepoint - d… | 2nd Oct 18, 2:56pm 1538445402

Hi Greg,

You are welcome to stick with interest.co.nz.......

Much appreciate your comprehensive and balanced reporting.

TTP

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 3:35pm 1538447717

Hi Greg

It appears my earlier comment has caused offence, for which I apologise. It was a comment made to challenge the narrative rather than offend the narrator. I am greatly appreciative of your time, effort and energy in providing the information that you do each week and I hope that you can accept my apology.

Best Regards

Nic

by tothepoint - d… | 3rd Oct 18, 7:52am 1538506322

Hi Nic Johnson,

Have read the apology above re Gregg Ninness.......

I take it that you are apologising on behalf of Retired Poppy.

TTP

by Retired-Poppy | 3rd Oct 18, 8:07am 1538507242

TTP, another "pointless" comment made by someone cornered by his own over optimistic predictions. Try and keep a cool head dude!

by Pragmatist | 3rd Oct 18, 8:08am 1538507336

Are you asking on behalf of BLSH?

by Yvil | 2nd Oct 18, 8:25pm 1538465146

Nic, no one forces you to read Interest.co.nz. If you don't like it, read other business news.

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 9:17pm 1538468232

Yvil,

'The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones'

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 10:21am 1538428904

Last September was B & F's worst September since 2008 with under 700 sales. This could be a close run thing this September even though Auckland listings had 1/3 more to sell than last September.

by Andrewj | 2nd Oct 18, 10:50am 1538430646

Australia's Property Downturn Chalks Up One-Year Anniversary
https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/australia-s-property-downturn-chal…

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 11:00am 1538431203

THE AUSTRALIAN DEBT STEEPLECHASE HAS STARTED.
'And it's 'MELBOURNE' out in front, with 'A CASE OF TOO MUCH DEBT' following short behind. 'WERE ON THE ROCKS' is on the inside track, dragging along 'WE'VE OVERHEATED,' 'OOP's YOU DIDN'T WANNA' is leading the chasing pack with 'CAN-BEAR-A' falling over. 'AVOID THE CREDIT BUBBLE' stumbles and loses his rider Aunty Westpac. '50 PERCENT INTEREST ONLY LOAN BOOK' making a move with 'NOW'S THE TIME TO BUY' and 'DON'T BE STUPID.' 'PERTH IS STILL BEHIND' is falling away and never likely to catch up, but here comes 'SYDNEY's SPIRAL' 'ONCE A LOVELY PLACE TO LIVE' 'NOW WE'RE ROOTED' and 'STRUTH MATE'

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 11:01am 1538431260

and almost from nowhere it's.....can't see...yes it's the old mare from Auckland 'nz is diffrunt' making a bid...she's flying and gaining with every stride...it's getting too hard to call folks...this mare is defying the odds..who would have thought...

(Rastus - 2018)

by PropertyPrices2Fall | 2nd Oct 18, 10:55am 1538430903

Getting busier with spectators???

Geez.. some of those sale rates are dismal..

Talk about biased reporting.. interest.co is faltering with the agencies funding...

by mealsonmeals | 2nd Oct 18, 1:05pm 1538438724

Agree, its typically been pretty balanced unbiased reporting. Making it a more credible source.

The headlines for all results up until a couple of weeks ago. "Overall sales rate of x% at Barfoot & Thompson's latest auctions. (with clearance rates at Barfoot around 30% the entire year).

Nows thats changed. For the exact same or worse results. Its now "Barfoot & Thompson's auction rooms getting busier." Hang on. A 36% clearance rate in July is clearly better than a 32% clearance rate in September? Why are we now popping champagne corks?

Keep your balance & credibility. If we wanted to read agency blogs, we'd go to Oneroof.

by Shoreman | 2nd Oct 18, 10:58am 1538431098

Old NJ always looking for the negative ? The market is flat to drifting downwards we all know this so you really don't need to jump on every number you can find ! We have another 18 months of this market and as I have said before to date prices have held up even better than I thought. Having skin in the game for 35 years this is nothing new it is expected. We are in the same period as 2008-2010 or 1999-2001. There will be declines and sellout of weak balance sheets and equally better opportunities for new entrances into the market. Guessing I think we could see 4-9 % drift down but we just had 90% up so lighten up ! And to use a term the DGM's love 'it's different this time' well it's not look at history. My best pick of time to buy would be next winter. As for KB I am yet to be convinced it will get off the ground to the numbers suggested but if it does then everyone wins. It potentially could put some pressure on suburbs of cheap old construction but getting more people into their own homes is positive for our society. Well established green leafy suburbs close to the city and beaches like in every other city in the world become more sort after as the city grows.

by Triple | 2nd Oct 18, 11:14am 1538432041

Here's some stats on a few leafy Auckland suburbs close to the city and beaches:

Total listings on trade me for St Heliers, Kohimarama, Mission Bay this day last year were 65. Whereas today they are 118. Therefore stock available in these suburbs is up 82% on last year.

This increase in stock has occurred while global equities are rallying. How is this similar to last time?

by Ex Expat | 2nd Oct 18, 4:34pm 1538451292

There are 24 Kohimarama properties for sale on Trademe. That means there are ~ 2,800 that aren’t for sale.

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 4:50pm 1538452257

Ex Expat
That's an increase of nearly 50% from the 17 you reported on this site on the 21st August.

by Ex Expat | 3rd Oct 18, 6:47am 1538502476

It’s Heavens holding pen; a few owners probably didn’t survive Winter but it’s hardly evidence of a stampede to the exit.

In any case what will be will be. I’m in the US right now reading about the Housing Crises in some parts. Same affordability issues. Renters being forced out of areas by AirBnB. Who knew the Nats had such a wide impact ;)

by JimmyJames | 2nd Oct 18, 3:48pm 1538448487

Shoreman, soon you'll need negative interest rates to bail out your blind, debt based positively.

by Shoreman | 2nd Oct 18, 4:14pm 1538450089

JJ - You sound less than positive ? miss out buying a few years ago ? 9% debt actually only to make use of tax advantages, nothing blind here been in the market 35 years seen it all before !

by JimmyJames | 2nd Oct 18, 5:10pm 1538453409

No, I’m young. I haven’t had a chance to buy yet, but I’m positive that I will.

Your house or houses have appreciated due to central planning and social engineering and you rely on other people to go deeper in to debt than you did, taking out even larger loans thus stealing even more time an productivity from the future. I don’t see your aspirations as positive.

Also, the whole doom and gloom thing is tired, tacky and devoid of any perspective.

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 8:11pm 1538464301

Well said Jimmy-James

The whole DGM thing is just a ruse.
'If you don't buy now, you're a negative person and you'll never be able to buy'
It's a classic hype, perpetuated by the MSM in New Zealand, the banks, whose adverts are down right shocking and manipulative as well as the spruikers who rely on the next debt slave to prop up their over-valued assets.

Already this FOMO scaremongering has suckered half a generation of people, who either thought it would save their retirements by leveraging into a bubble for a couple of years of capital gains, but more worrying for me it has also fooled a lot of our Youth. Propaganda is a dangerous thing when left unquestioned and unchallenged as we have seen though-out history...

In New Zealand what little questioning has happened over the last few years has been buried by the press or outshouted as DGM by the vested interests and so the bubble has grown to a level that will now cause a great deal of distress as it deflates or pops!

My hope is that the next generation will, for the time being, stay well away from it until the dust has settled and that is the entire reason that I post. Some of us have seen this before, and the consequences on communities and households, sadly many in New Zealand haven't, but are about to.

I'm not a twitterer or a face-booker, or even an instagramma, but I would urge those that are, to spread what they learn from interest.co.nz as there are many excellent commentators with kids of their own who hold a similar view to me. If people want to use my words directly, I am more than happy for them to do so, as this won't get to STUFF or the Herald or the Dominion Post without you, because the people that buy a newspaper are my age and older, and it's not what they want to hear!

by Shoreman | 2nd Oct 18, 9:27pm 1538468835

JJ - Thankyou for your honesty. No I don't rely on other people going into deeper debt etc. I never sell I only buy and hold. Look you may be interested or not but 38 years ago there was the same negative vibe about housing and prices it's not new ! Most of my friends of the time put off getting into the market because it was at it's peak or going to fall or the sky was going to fall in. I decided that was just resentment and we have alot on here.I went overseas for 2.5 years and worked my arse off came back ignored media and bought. It wasn't a brilliant idea but I worked out most other peoples opinions are based around their own regret. Some of these old friends still don't own a house. I'm not suggesting you buy right now but a significant correction that is so sort after on here is not going to happen. My best guess is next winter would be the optimum time to buy and prices are likely to have slipped a bit by then before the market gains strength again. I wish you well whatever you choose to do. I don't thing the scare mongering by the likes of Nic and RP are helpful. Remove the opinions of everyone including myself and make a decision on facts not what if's or DGM's. Regards

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 8:36pm 1538465776

Shoreman, a little less of the old if you don't mind.

Interesting to hear your 4-9% shift, is that on top of the 5-9% shift that much of Auckland has already seen or added on to, and from what base? The peak or now?

'it's different this time' well it's not look at history' - (Shoreman 2018)

I'd suggest that looking at history, while sometimes helpful can be a very dangerous way of predicting the future If you'd looked back at Enron, Lehman Brothers, Blockbuster Video, Woolworths, Kodak, Pan Am, BHS, etc etc and in Property, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland, America, Portugal, Greece and bought at the wrong time, on the silly ssumption of history repeating. Then you would have come a cropper.

I often hear the adage 'that house prices double, but house prices double'..... It's peddled out by everyone who got suckered into buying with big leverage having attending a seminar. But how long is a piece of string?

If you bought a property in England in 1904, Do you know you would have waited until 1954 for the price of that house to double. Yep it took 50 years.... A purchaser of a property in Japan in 1989 only got back to their purchase price in 2015. 26 years and a long way from doubling. Ireland's 2006 purchaser, still no where near seeing their money back. Newcastle in 2005, nope still 10-15% down after 13 years of paying the mortgage interest and for many no chance of moving because on a 30 year term you only pay back 20% of the captial over 10 years.

I know, New Zealand is diffrunt.

Just trying to educate the Young and the FOES..... (Fear of Everything Smart)

by Shoreman | 2nd Oct 18, 9:32pm 1538469133

I think you will always have some example to back your narrative. My narrative is based only on my own experience. I am happy to agree to disagree and not use my time wastefully with you. Regards

by Nic Johnson | 2nd Oct 18, 11:11pm 1538475074

It wasn't me that started this thread but happy to end it here... Let's watch and see what happens next, I have a feeling it will be quite an emotional rollercoaster for some!

by Zachary Smith | 2nd Oct 18, 11:06am 1538431607

Some of these houses are still getting great prices. I constantly search for that house that seems to be an amazing bargain and a "sign of the times" but I haven't spotted it yet.

Instead I see these:

17 Marsden Avenue Mt Eden
RV 1345k sold for 1600k (sold in 2005 for 638k)
https://www.barfoot.co.nz/761208

8 Springwood Place Mt Eden
RV 890k sold for 1300k (sold in Nov 2011 for 651k)
https://www.barfoot.co.nz/761381

by Pragmatist | 2nd Oct 18, 11:30am 1538433013

Activity in Barfoot & Thompson's auctions rooms has picked up ..

more shuffling feet, shaking heads, anxious looking sellers and agents, but not so much of hands shooting up or auctioneers gavels being banged with the accompaniment of the words "Sold!"

by Pragmatist | 2nd Oct 18, 11:48am 1538434126

I see the High Court has gone from the shining star with 100% clearance rates to the bottom of the barrel.. 0% sold. No bargains to be had there obviously.

by Zachary Smith | 2nd Oct 18, 12:26pm 1538436372

No bargains to be had there obviously

I wonder if this is because banks are required to treat mortgagee sales more humanely? Probably a good thing.

by Pragmatist | 2nd Oct 18, 12:35pm 1538436938

No, its just a sign that they either aren't promoting the mortgagee sales well, or the reserve is still being set above market value.

Not sure how a house not selling at a mortgagee sale is more humane.. owner is still in the poo, still accumulating interest and fees and still needs to sell up to get out, so every failed mortagee sale is just more stress, more time wasted.

by Zachary Smith | 2nd Oct 18, 12:40pm 1538437204

I'm pretty sure they are no longer allowed to sell these properties to just cover the mortgage. If a bank accepts an exceptionally low offer they get into big trouble. They have to make a reasonable effort to get the best price under the circumstances.

by Pragmatist | 2nd Oct 18, 2:17pm 1538443037

Yes, but again, read what I said above. Every time it goes thru a mortgagee sale and doesn't sell, the owner gets further in the poo, another set of auction fees etc that they become liable for. Fair enough that the bank can't set a $1 reserve and get whatever it happens to go for, but if it doesn't sell its not doing the owner any favours, so there is a point at which just ripping the band-aid off and getting it over and done with is actually better than going for four rounds of mortagee auctions because the reserve is set unrealistically high.

by moneyphobe | 2nd Oct 18, 12:47pm 1538437671

ZS is this a bargain? It sold for same price as in 2015.

61 Sylvan Crescent, Te Atatu South
1.175 in 2015
sold for 1.180 in 2018
https://www.trademe.co.nz/property/insights/address/Auckland/Te-Atatu-S…

by Robber Baron | 2nd Oct 18, 1:16pm 1538439365

It says it sold in June 2015 for $998k. That's an 18.24 percent increase. Or 6% compound capital growth rate per year over 3 years. It has 2 dwellings as well, so I would imagine decent rental yield. Not a bad return.

by Nzdan | 2nd Oct 18, 2:05pm 1538442340

It was flipped in 2015.

by Zachary Smith | 2nd Oct 18, 1:36pm 1538440583

I too noticed that property earlier and was about to mention it until I noticed that it sold for 998k in June 2015 and then 1175k in July 2015, just one month later. Something a bit odd going on there! The true value in 2015 was 998k. Looking further back we see that it sold for 480k in Feb 2006. Assuming around 110% appreciation since 2006 1180k was a good price for Sept 2018.

If you bought a property three years ago and then sold it for close to 200k more now that's a pretty good result.

Another property worthy of mention that may be a bargain is this one:

85 Oaktree Ave, Browns Bay
https://www.barfoot.co.nz/762426

RV 1020k, sold for 810k. Sold in 2006 for 469k. Should have fetched around 980k.

With a self contained first floor too so could possibly be rented out to help pay the mortgage. Seems like a bargain.
This looks like the sort of property a first home buyer should look for. Potential to earn some extra income. Last sold over ten years ago. Do up. Sellers a bit desperate (change of circumstances - divorce or something) I know not nice but, hey, they still made money.

by Zachary Smith | 2nd Oct 18, 1:45pm 1538441125

What the auction results tell me is that auctions are still a good method for selling a property. You can be reasonably confident of a sale if you meet the following criteria:

Select a good agent
Property is well presented
Property is empty and staged well
Property is in a good location
Your price expectation follows the ZS principle - you bought a few years ago and you know the % price increase for your area since you bought it.

With those cards your success rate will approach 100%

by taimaiakka0 | 2nd Oct 18, 2:56pm 1538445374

Where Foreign buyers are active (buying before the ban) - percentage is good as in today's time 44% and 42% is Very Good.

by CJ099 | 2nd Oct 18, 9:03pm 1538467422

Yep we all know how that one is going to play out for Auckland.