Auckland real estate agents says buyers are clamouring to view properties at alert level three - a sign that the city’s housing market will quickly pick up speed when restrictions are lifted.
Bryan Thomson, managing director of Harcourts, says there is a lot of pent-up demand in Auckland, from buyers and those wishing to sell. “As soon as we were in level three there was pretty good activity,” he says.
“And there are a lot of people getting their properties ready. Listing numbers are coming in pretty strongly.”
Real estate rules for Auckland at level three have changed. Previously, the number of viewings of a property was limited to two per day. Now viewings of one person at a time can take place when the residents are not at home, with an hour’s gap between inspections.
Start your property search
Thomson says before the limit was lifted some of his agents had properties that were fully booked for 10 days straight.
Level three rules also allow pre-settlement inspections and Aucklanders to move house within the city, and under certain conditions, to move into properties outside the Auckland boundary. However, buyers can’t cross the Auckland boundary to view a property in person.
Bayleys national auction manager Conor Patton has been in the South Island during lockdown and saw first-hand what happened when the rest of the country went to level three then level two. Those properties that had already been through their marketing cycle before lockdown were snapped up.
“Our success rate at Bayleys shot up from 75% to being over 90% in those first few weeks [of level three and two]," he says.
“I've been in Christchurch almost the entire time. Christchurch listings have been very tight like most parts of the country, and so success rates have been very good.
REINZ chief executive Jen Baird: “Last lockdown people really didn’t know what to expect.” Photo / Supplied
“The Friday before last and we were supposed to auction 16 properties, but of those we had already sold half.”
REINZ chief executive Jen Baird says the industry has learned a lot from previous lockdowns. “Last lockdown people really didn’t know what to expect but Kiwis are far more used to the situation now. Aucklanders have been through this more times than everybody else.”
They find it easier psychologically to push the button to list, she says.
Peter Thompson, managing director at Barfoot and Thompson, has seen that change play out. In Auckland’s level three lockdown last year, the agency’s listings were down 80%, compared to a drop of 55% this time around. And Thompson expects listing volumes to pick up dramatically.
Baird adds: “There are people who have taken the opportunity through level three to get their ducks in a row. Things like get your marketing done, have your photographs taken, your videos sorted, have your house staged. That can happen at level three. So, at level two, you’re absolutely ready to hit the ground running.”
Even so, level three is far from ideal circumstances in which to best sell real estate, says Baird. Auckland’s property market won’t return to full speed once in level two, she says. “Once you get to level two, the rules in place for managing distancing and health, and all the health precautions are (both) manageable and managed very well by the profession. They know what they're doing.”
Snapped up in level three: The Elementum Terraces development in Auckland’s Long Bay. Photo / Supplied
One big difference with 2020, says Harcourt’s Thomson, is last year we were heading into winter at level three. This year it’s in the peak selling season of spring. “Also, the industry (has) identified how to conduct business remotely, and the members of the buying and selling public are more au fait and more confident,” he says.
It's not just the season, says Patton. “Last lockdown the government (and Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced a whole raft of changes to help stimulate the entire economy, which helped fuelling the fire for the housing market. They slashed interest rates, they removed LVR (loan to value rate) restrictions. They’re not going to be doing that this time.”
Having said that, the infrastructure spend announced in 2020 will have a follow on effect for several years to come, says Baird.
NZ Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Gavin Lloyd says as soon as Auckland went to level three his agency immediately signed sale and purchase agreements with buyers for properties in the Elementum Terraces development in Long Bay. “We have seen a bit of an uplift from buyers in level three,” he says.
Out of Auckland, it’s a different story. Tim Kearins, principal of Century 21, says: “In Palmerston North, where I’m based, we got more listings in level three which are now translating into some great sale prices in level two, but supply is waning.”
