From a Devonport bungalow selling for $300,000 above its CV to a drop in overall clearance rates, recent results at Auckland’s North Shore property auctions suggest the city's blue chip real estate market is not running as consistently red hot as the city's central suburbs.
So, what is the magic formula for a fast-selling, desirable property in the current North Shore market?
Meeting the market, for one, says Harcourts Cooper & Co auction manager Shane Cortese.
“There are properties passing in for reasons where the two parties are either too far apart or the unconditional buyer hasn’t been identified.
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“Sometimes it takes a little time for either party to reassess and reengage at the current market levels. These are big decisions to make and sometimes patience is absolutely recommended and required.”
Cortese describes the market as fair with vendors meeting buyers. But properties with any pending consents, warranties or conditions that make them less attractive to buyers are having trouble selling now.
To get multiple bidders and premium dollars, make sure to sort out all the paperwork before campaigning the house, he recommends.
“If you give me a single level, brick and tile, well-presented and north-facing home you just sit back and count the bids. But we’re on the North Shore and we can’t do that, clean contracts here are more important,” he says.
For five weeks Harcourts clearance rate was over 60 per cent. At last week’s Thursday and Sunday auctions that dropped to 50 per cent, with 12 out of 24 properties selling under the hammer.
Henry Barfoot, Barfoot and Thompson Milford branch manager, says prices have been steady since post-lockdown, with not enough stock available to satisfy buyers’ demand.
First home buyers are the most active market, particularly in Birkdale area, he says. Those buyers prefer homes that do not require a lot of work and are move-in ready.
“They are already maxing out their finances to buy a house and they can’t afford to do anything else one they are in, as they have to pay the mortgage. It’s a trend that younger people want more and sooner,” he says.
However, they often cannot go unconditional on the auction due to finance. On the other hand, Barfoot says, luxurious properties have multiple offers.
“Some properties have more demand. Having a modern interior, being close to schools and having a big backyard on a nice section - if it ticks all those boxes people will chase them.
“The B grade and C grade [properties] have a different niche, they may be a bit quirky, and for whatever reason there’s a smaller pool of buyers looking at them. They don’t tend to do as well at auctions,” Barfoot says.
But when a property hits all the right marks, it still does very well.
Bayleys Takapuna agent Kathryn Robertson sold a house on Devonport’s Regent Street for $300,000 above its CV, creating a new record for the street.
After 65 groups visited the five-bedroom renovated bungalow during the week of open homes, an Auckland family placed a pre-auction offer of $1.8 million. No one could beat their offer in the auction, which was brought forward.
While a three-level renovated bungalow with a pool on the same street also sold for above the CV, the rest of Narrow Neck area of the Devonport is still underrated and more affordable, Robertson says.
“There’s a little pocket of real estate there that’s undervalued on Aramoana Ave and Ngataringa Rd where it’s a bit cheaper than Devonport and you get more for your bucks,” Robertson says.
But Robertson noted that an interested buyer could not bid on the Regent St home on Wednesday as the bank had pulled back on finances, the beginnings of a trend which she thinks is making auction rooms less full and causing properties to be passed in.
“We are hearing a lot from buyers who would have had a pre-approval pre-Covid and assumed they still had it. “But when they re-apply before the auction, they find out they won’t be given as much as banks are changing the lending,” she says.
