As real estate agents fielded calls from anxious buyers and sellers, and scrambled on Monday and Tuesday to pull forward auctions before the lockdown began, some were prepared to reflect where the property market might head once the restrictions are lifted.
"We were still doing open homes and appointments, and the weekend was actually great, although of course with lower numbers," Auckland agent Robyn Ellson said on Tuesday.
"There were lots and lots of buyers - lots of people with urgency to buy."
Ellson sold two homes just hours before the lockdown came into effect: a renovated villa at 4 Buchanan Street, in Kingsland, which went for $1.55 million, and a cottage at nearby 5 Third Avenue, which went for $1.31 million.
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Ellson, who started in real estate in 2011 as the market was picking up after the GFC, said she had learned to stay focused on what you could do to help vendors sell and buyers buy. Her advice for buyers and sellers after the lockdown is that while you never know where prices are going, there is a window of opportunity.
"Never say, 'I'm waiting for the perfect time'. Your head space should be, 'is this the house I want?'"
She added: "Astute people are in the market they'll have the insight and will still remain in the market to buy.”
Bayleys agent David Rainbow, who has worked through several market downturns, agrees.
"Buyers still say, 'This is the house I've been waiting for', but they are more cautious right now and sellers have got to realise that prices have moved on from a week or two ago,” he said.
"The gap will definitely narrow for the next step up, so it'll be good time to buy up. In the higher prices, the sellers are business people - they'll be wiser to the market, or want to use their money for something else, so that $2.5 million plus property will be available at better value. A person moving from a $1.5 million home will get better value."
Megan Jaffe, who owns and runs Ray White Remuera, in Auckland, said that the company had been preparing for the lockdown for some time, so had already nutted out videos for virtual walk throughs using Google Hangout.
"We've got vendors who will walk through the property, with their agent doing the talking. The house will be nice and clean. Even my hairdresser has been watching how to do Loom and Zoom to show me how to dye my own hair!"
Jaffe said the time-out offered her agency the perfect chance to completely re-tool and re-structure how they did real estate, so that when the lockdown was over "we'll be up and running and transacting first".
Agent Steen Nielsen said that while personal viewings were off the table, there were still "buyers who will crawl over broken glass to get the right property" and his vendors would be given virtual walk throughs.
Harcourts agent Nicola Whitley, who has been in the business 20 years, said the market would quickly bounce because Kiwis love property.
"I’ve experienced volatile markets and quick and slow markets. The Overseas Investment Act and Anti-money laundering laws - that changed the heat and focus of buyers." she said, adding that conversations with buyers and sellers this week had gone from 5 minutes chats to 30- to 45-minute discussions. "There’s been a lot to discuss,” she said.
"Start focusing on planning ahead for a property sale outcome. If you can, allow time. Talk to people who are in the thick of talking and transacting real estate - discuss the market, discuss prices. And get to know the market variables to understand how it suits your selling requirements and your property.
"Then as the market gets right back into the groove, which it will do, it’s just a matter of which group of buyers step up the fastest, followed by the second group, then the third. Today, the enticement for buyers starts with the low interest rates. Real estate will still tick along."
