A villa owned by former Cabinet minister Stuart Nash is one of several high-profile homes to have disappeared from the market.
OneRoof has identified more than two dozen luxury properties – some of which are worth more than $10 million – that have been pulled from sale after efforts to find willing buyers failed.
OneRoof understands from the agents involved that some of these properties could reappear when interest rates fall and the market improves.
While properties at the top end of the market are selling – with OneRoof identifying 73 settled sales of more than $5m in the last six months – the flood of listings at the start of the year has given buyers more choice and more negotiating power.
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That has put some vendors at the top end of the market on the back foot. Some of those OneRoof spoke to have decided to drop their asking price – by as much as $1m in some cases – while others have switched agents in the hopes of finding a buyer.
Many, however, have given up and pulled their properties from sale and rented them out instead.
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Former Labour Minister Stuart Nash listed his much-loved five-bedroom bungalow on Milton Road, in Bluff Hill, Napier, in November last year after purchasing the old Napier Court House to live in.
The 100-year-old concrete property had been with two different real estate agencies and had about $250,000 shaved off the price while it was on the market. The most recent asking price was $1.395m, which Nash believed would have been a “real deal”.
He and wife Sarah had dropped the price to as low as they were prepared to go and had a huge amount of publicity. “We weren’t prepared to drop it any further. We had done open homes most Sundays for about five months,” he said.
Nash said it would take three to four hours to get it open-home ready, which they felt was a lot of effort for not much reward. But he said the buyers weren’t there and he was not aware of any homes in the blue-chip suburb that had fetched more than $1m in the last six months.
Former MP Stuart Nash, with wife Sarah, says the overall economic uncertainty and high interest rates are making buyers cautious. Photo / Supplied
Nash's Milton Road home, in Bluff Hill, will now be rented out. Photo / Supplied
He thought the “overall economic uncertainty” and “high interest rates” had had an impact. “Buyers are very reluctant to commit,” he said.
Unfortunately, the Nashs were unable to sell their home before settling on the courthouse so are now planning to rent the house out.
He told OneRoof that they might reconsider relisting it closer to summer when the weather was more conducive for a big house with a big pool and a big section.
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins, who sells at the high-end of the market in Auckland and Queenstown, told OneRoof there were several reasons why people were pulling their properties, some unrelated to the market, but pricing was a big factor.
“The people who are selling are the people who are meeting the market. The people who are holding onto a value that no longer exists, they would be better off taking their properties off the market,” he said.
Hawkins’ advice to those who wanted to sell was to keep their listing live.
“At the end of the day if people want to buy a property, they buy in the winter, they buy any time. You don’t catch fish without putting your line in the water.”
Some people might worry about their property looking stale but Hawkins said this shouldn’t be a concern in the current market because many vendors were in the same position. “You’re not going to stand out as a stale property when you are in among a whole lot of other listings that have been on just as long.”
Ray White salesperson Ross Hawkins says a lot of properties have been on the market for some time. Photo / Supplied
Harcourts Hamilton agreed Craig Annandale said he had seen some owners pull their properties after failing to sell.
He said one of his vendors, the owner of a high-end house with an outdoor pool, had decided to take a breather over winter after a conditional offer on the house had fallen through when the buyer had been unable to sell their own home. The owner would likely re-list the property in the lead-up to summer, Annandale said.
“People just need to remember patience ... We are not in 2021 and to service $2m is the same as servicing $4m back then.”
He said the key to selling in the current market was to “do it once and do it right” by listing with an agent who sold in the area, investing in marketing, and pricing it correctly.
“If someone is motivated though, they will meet the market to sell it and that’s what we are seeing.”
Bayleys Ponsonby agent Joe Telford hadn’t noticed a huge number of listing withdrawals in his patch, but noted that buyers at the top end were picky and in no rush to make a purchase.
“We are certainly not in a market where people are scrambling around needing to find a roof over their heads. They want to wait and make the right decisions.”
He felt withdrawals were an indication of sellers “wanting to sell and not needing to sell”.
“I would say if somebody has got to the level of commitment of coming to the market, they have probably got the mindset that they do want to make a change when the market is right.”
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