The real estate market is running so hot in Auckland that at one agency, the top boss went back on the tools to call an auction.
Carey Smith, chief executive of Ray White New Zealand, stepped up to the podium this week for Heather Walton, principal of Ray White Epsom, and her colleague Ryan Teece. It was one of more than 100 auctions held by the company around the country this week.
And though it has been “a few years” since Smith last held the hammer, he clearly hasn’t lost his touch, as the property at 177A Stable Lane in Auckland's city fringe Eden Terrace sold for $1.43 million - $590,000 above the 2017 CV.
“I started in real estate when I was 17. I was a junior auctioneer in Sydney, I used to travel the auction houses and made progress calling a few,” said Smith, adding that good auctioneers need to be really practised and trained, especially if they are calling more than two auctions in a session.
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The property at 177A achieved $1.43 million at auction, $590,000 over council valuation. Photo / supplied
Walton said that she knew Smith had good form, after seeing him call an office function at Christmas, and so she was delighted when he said he’d love to “get on the tools” for her clients.
“He’s a big guy, with a big gavel. When he brought it down, we were under no confusion that it had sold,” she said of the auction in which six bidders duked it out for the 1920s shop and loft-style apartment.
The renovated concrete building sat right in the centre of the rapidly gentrifying Eden Terrace quarter, behind Symonds Street.
Walton said the more-than-usual fishhooks – the building had an outstanding code of compliance, bank lending on retail has been difficult and the building sits on top of the tunnelling for the new City Rail Link so had a compensation certificate - “did put a large shadow of doubt over what could be achieved”, adding that it had been updated to current earthquake standards.
“But being a freehold and not a stratum really appealed to potential buyers and it attracted more than 150 enquiries throughout the campaign,” she says, “To the vendor’s delight, the property achieved the appraised price as if it did have the CCC.
“It was so much fun working with Carey, who put the icing on the cake of what was an amazing campaign for our owners.”
Smith reported the company’s third back-to-back record month of residential sales across the country, completing 1,809 sales in September for a total transaction value of $1.336 billion.
He told OneRoof that in this market, auctions are critical for buyers and sellers who want to know they’re getting the true value in this rapidly rising market.
“And banks are really keen on the process of auctions setting the value. Seeing transparency and disclosure around the property, around who the other buyers are – no other form of sale gives that.
The two-bedroom New York-style loft is above a retail shop in the rapidly gentrifying Eden Terrace precinct. Photo / supplied
“I wouldn’t look at any other form of selling.”
Smith said that the Auckland market was up 128 percent on September last year, while Hawke’s Bay through to the Wellington region was up 112 percent.
Seventeen offices achieved their personal best results including internationally number one ranked company Ray White Remuera selling $121 million worth of property. Ray White Manukau at number two, sold $101 million worth of properties. Ray White Epsom sold $41 million, while Parnell sold just under $40 million. Around the country, Wellington City broke its former record with $41 million worth of sales.
“But it’s also interesting that these [record results] are around the country. The top offices included Whangarei in Northland selling over $20 million, Ray White Rotorua sold $21 million worth of homes and Ray White Hutt City completed $22 million worth of sales.”
At 2,120, new listings were up almost 19 percent on August and 24.1 per cent up on last September.
