Auckland buyers and sellers have had a week to get used to the new lockdown, and it seems they haven't missed a beat, with homes in the city fetching top prices at virtual auctions.
But how are housing markets outside of Auckland reacting to the resurgence of Covid-19 in New Zealand and the return to level two restrictions.
Ray White Whangarei director Allan Sykes says that it is business as usual for his agents - albeit with extra vigilance at open homes and in the office.
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“We’re getting on with it. We're social distancing, recording people coming and going from the building but our main intent and purpose right now is to be safe and cautious,” he says.
At alert level two auctions and open homes are still permitted with social distancing and a limit on the number of attendees on the property at one time, depending on its size.
Last week the branch had to call in a local auctioneer as the Auckland-based auctioneer they had planned to use was no longer able to travel out of town.
“It’s about having alternatives, which we’ve learnt though the lockdown. People are still going to buy and sell for whatever reason and we need to be able to facilitate that the best we can.”
In the first week of level two, people seemed to be more worried about day-to-day activities, Sykes says.
“If you looked at the supermarkets, the shops, and the traffic jams in our town now – it’s crazy. But I don’t think level two or three will stop people from making larger transactions over longer period of time.”
Not enough stock
Harcourts national auctioneer Aaron Davies, who is based in Auckland, says there’s a clear sense of urgency in the market, with vendors bringing auctions forward often after pre-auction offers by keen buyers.
“The few buyers I’m talking to want to secure something now,” he says, adding that people are not scared of Covid-19 anymore. "We’ve done it before, we’ll come out on the other end."
Not everyone has shrugged off the reappearance of Covid-19. David Palfreyman, who coaches real estate agents around the country, says every client he has talked to since the new restrictions came into force had lost a listing.
Agents are telling him that sellers who were keen to sell at the start of the week became uncertain about the current situation and some pulled back from marketing their property.
“My client in Palmerston North had a property which was supposed to go live, but they are now just waiting as the seller is worried that buyers are uncertain,” Palfreyman says.
But seller hesitance to go-ahead with listing is leading to a nation-wide property shortage. "People are apprehensive, but there’s a large number of buyers wanting to purchase,” he says.
'Steady and strong' prices
Hamilton’s Lodge Real Estate managing director, Jeremy O’Rourke, agrees that the market is being held back by a shortage of new listings and rental stock.
“We continue to see multiple offers on properties, and filled an entire auction room with 60 people this week,” he says.
Current competition is keeping prices “steady and strong” with both first home buyers and investors adding to their portfolios.
“However, we currently don’t have the listings to meet this strong demand, setting up a great opportunity for sellers to take advantage,” O’Rourke says.
“Buyers can be assured they will be able to view homes this weekend without coming into close contact with others,” O’Rourke says.
In the South Island, Dunedin and Christchurch property markets are far from a state of panic.
Dunedin’s Nidd Realty director Joe Nidd says Level 2 does not change much, apart from physical distancing and contact tracing. “We’ve changes our processes but the business we’re doing is going just fine,” he says.
Prepared for anything
Nidd has not had any sellers pull back on their campaigns. One buyer chose to bring their marketing campaign forward instead of doing more work on the property as planned, to take advantage of the demand. On the whole, however, Nidd says no one is making drastic changes to their sale plans.
“We’re not a super reactive bunch over here but a pretty pragmatic and it’s showing. We’re just hoping that we get no South Island [Covid-10] cases found but we’re prepared for anything and are confident in the team that are running things.”
In Christchurch, too, Smart Real Estate chief executive Debra Hakaraia says she’s optimistic in the local market, as Level 2 does not involve too many restrictions.
She is seeing a lot of activity from sellers fast-forwarding their plans.
“We’re bringing a few new listings a week and people are ready to go. Not much has changed yet, but there’s still urgency and vendors want to hurry up and get things going,” she says.
