House sales have moved online as the hard lockdown ordered to combat the spread of the Covid-19 Delta variant put physical attendance at open homes and auctions on hold.
Vaughan Borcovsky, operations manager for auctions at Auckland's biggest real estate firm, Barfoot & Thompson, told OneRoof that 40% of Wednesday’s planned 78 auctions went ahead online, with more continuing today.
“Our agents take instruction from their vendors, and some wanted to go ahead using our auctions live system. We can’t do phone bidding, but our auctioneers are running [their auctions] online from home – supported by some incredibly able people in their family bubble.
“We’ve done this before, so our online process is perfectly tuned.”
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Buyer interest was still high, with a three-bedroom house in Fenchurch Street, in Glen Innes, Auckland, selling for $1.608m.
Barfoot & Thompson auctioneer Murray Smith, who called the auction, told OneRoof: “Eight bidders registered ahead, and they were all present online. We also had two bidders for an apartment in Kingsland that went to first home buyers for $750,000.
“Buyers and sellers are thrilled. They can carry on with their plans and feel like they’ve won Lotto.”
Colleague Marion Tolich said that having the technology in place meant everyone got the chance to bid. “Lots of people have been watching all year and not participated in on-line bidding. Now they can,” she said.
Eight bidders competed online for a house in Fenchurch Street, in Auckland's Glen Innes. Photo / Supplied
Ray White auctioneer John Bowring said that all 12 of the company's planned auctions for Remuera and Mount Eden went ahead, with an average of four bidders registered for each property.
Among the highlights was the sale of a stylishly renovated five-bedroom bungalow on Kenny Road, in Remuera, outside of double grammar zone. It sold for $5.2m after five bidders drove the price to $400,000 above the reserve and $1.8m above the 2017 CV.
“We’d had 66 groups through three full weekends of open homes, there’s such a low supply of good family homes on full sites,” said Ray White Remuera agent Thomas Farmer, who marketed the property with Simon Siddells.
“No one pulled out because of lockdown, and two people kept bidding right up to the $5.2m price. Now we’ve still got four under-bidders looking with budgets around $5m.”
A house on Byron Avenue, Takapuna, on Auckland's North Shore ,sold for $1.503m. Photo / Supplied
Farmer said that the lockdown would affect a number of people who had bought before putting their own home on the market. “People didn’t want to sell and get caught out with nothing to buy, so it will put some pressure on. Settlements will still go through but there’ll be a potential surge as time frames to buy get tight before Christmas.”
In South Auckland, Ray White Manukau branch manager Tom Rawson said that the majority of buyers in his market were developers and investors so the switch to online auctions was seamless.
On Tuesday night, just as the lockdown was being ordered, his office sold five out of five properties under the hammer, with about 80 people filling the auction room. “It was like everyone was in a hurry to buy property,” Rawson said.
A house in Park Hill Road, in Birkenhead, Auckland, sold for $1.4m. Photo / Supplied
“The owners want to go ahead. Developers will be sitting at home on their computers. Now people know what happens in lockdown.”
Rawson said that the ban on doing in-person appraisals was unlikely to slow down listings, as agents were used to doing desk-based figures first, particularly for tenanted investment properties.
“[During the last lockdown] we had 70 agents calling our 1600 properties under management to do appraisals. People take this time to re-assess. They’re looking to future-proof and plan. It’s a good time to talk.”
In the city, Ray White’s auction manager Cameron Brain said two apartments, one in Eden Terrace and another in Ronayne Street in the city, sold under the hammer and in Takapuna, on the North Shore, Ray White agents sold a three-bedroom house on Byron Avenue, for $1.503m - $453,000 above CV - after seven bidders competed for the 1970s home.
Harcourts Cooper & Co agents Dianne and Daniel Lundquist told OneRoof they managed to squeak in a final in-person auction on Tuesday for a home in Park Hill Road, Birkenhead. Three bidders pushed the price of the three-bedroom home to $1.4m when the auction was brought forward with an offer of $1.29m.
Daniel Lundquist said that bidders were watching their phones for the prime minister’s announcement as the auction kicked off at 6.30pm so the auction was fast paced.
The vendors, who had bought the house through Dianne 24 years ago, were moving out of Auckland, and were very pleased they’d brought the auction forward ahead of lockdown, he said.
Harcourts national auction manager Aaron Davis says that while a lot of vendors were still deciding whether to go ahead with online auctions or postpone their campaigns, buyers were used to online bidding.
“It’s just the new normal now. There are a lot of people sitting at home with a lot of time on their hands and they’re still homeless. People still want to buy.”
