Big Day Out

“Our BIG Auction Day on 30 January was eagerly anticipated and did not disappoint” reports Daniel Horrobin, Director of City Realty Group.

But first.

“As we await the upcoming OCR announcement on 19 February” says Daniel, “banks generally appear to be getting on with business with Stuff reporting in early February “The mortgage rate wars are continuing with a major bank dropping its short-term rates for the second time in a fortnight”.

Whether bank activity has influenced seller sentiment remains to be seen however REINZ reports “New listings had returned to levels not seen during January since 2015 as nearly 9000 new listings came onto the market last month. Up 21.2% year-on-year.”

“Those numbers have not yet impacted properties for sale in the Central City but our Apartment market often follows the wider residential trend” says Daniel.

Back to the Auction floor.

“With 20 Auctions planned for 30 January, there was some preliminary jostling for position” says Daniel.

“3 were postponed and 1 brought forward, the result of a pre-Auction offer accepted and up first on the day. The pre-Auction offer was instantly eclipsed and bidding continued for another $300,000 to round out a final sale price of $3.5m” reports Daniel.

“Not to be outdone, the 2nd Auction up was a heavily remedial Apartment in St Lukes, It had been advertised with a $1 Reserve (yes one dollar) and when the bidding opened with a $10 bid from the floor and no immediate counter, there were some rather anxious glances around the room.

Then a bid of $20 prompted some serious momentum and 37 bids later, the property sold for $52,000.

Soon after, another property with a declared Reserve price proved beneficial to the seller. A Leasehold townhouse in lower Parnell nearly doubled its declared price before selling under the hammer.”

Daniel adds “Our decision to hit the ground running this new year was totally embraced by our Team and the response from both sellers and buyers was splendid. In addition to the above mentioned sales, there was bidding on almost every property, further evidence that Auction properties focus buyers attention borne out also by our open home numbers throughout last year.”

“With 20 Auctions booked already for February, we look in pretty good shape, Hopefully, 19 February will raise the confidence bar for both buyers and sellers at the same time many commentators report signs of economic recovery on the horizon” concludes Daniel.