Ponsonby News asked five of the local real estate offices to tell us about the current state of the market.
Chris Lewis - NZ Sotheby's, Ponsonby
How has the market been for agents in your office?
It’s no secret it has been the most challenging year for even the most experienced agents. However, the OCR reduction gave a positive signal and with a further reduction likely in November 2024, buyers have been confident to return to the market. We are seeing multi offers back in play, negotiation is protracted and those vendors who are motivated to sell, are selling.
How many deals are being done?
Collectively, for all real estate brands in the seven suburbs that wrap around our Ponsonby office, there were 57 sales for a six-week period, almost identical to the same period in 2023. Vendors who are listening to price feedback are transacting.
What’s the top price you’ve achieved?
Since launching Sotheby’s International Realty in NZ almost 20 years ago, it’s no coincidence we continue to achieve record sales for our vendors throughout our 30 offices positioned around New Zealand. The combination of our experienced agents marketing the best properties, paired with our extensive reach into the best audience of buyers both locally and via our global team of 26,500 agents is significant. We know our newly opened office at One Jervois Road in Ponsonby will deliver those same results. Watch this space.
What are you telling vendors?
Open home numbers have rallied in recent weeks, we are seeing a significant increase in buyer activity, realestate.co.nz reported a 20% increase in traffic for July year on year compared to July 2023, and a 10.6% lift in enquiry level from June 2024. On the international stage, from the 83 countries that Sotheby’s International Realty operates in, New Zealand features in the Top 10 for visits to the website – expats are constantly planning their exit strategy if required.
With competition from the greater volume of listings, presentation and completed maintenance is critical, removing any possible objections is paramount. We believe confidence is returning to the local market.
Belinda Hensen - Ray White, Wynyard Quarter
The mood of the market in the last month has definitely changed, especially on the back of the latest OCR announcement and the hope that the interest rates will continue to fall as we approach the end of the year.
There are more buyers attending open homes, more offers coming forward and more deals being done as the buyers gain confidence. The month of August saw a flush of multiple offers, back up offers and many more registered buyers at auctions resulting in under the hammer auction success.
Luke Crockford recently marketed and sold a lovely character home that attracted 227 buyers through the open homes and another 27 private inspections and seven building inspections over a three-week campaign. The auction day was reminiscent of 2021 with nine registered bidders. The bidding was fast paced resulting in a successful sale under the hammer.
The Auckland market is active from the beautiful high-value character homes to waterfront apartments and a definite appetite for leasehold in the city – we offer something for everyone across our portfolio.
Communication has been the key in this market. Our sales people are focused strongly on keeping our vendors and buyers updated with clear factual information to help close the gap between the seller and buyer through the marketing and negotiation phase to assist with making informed decisions. It's all about working with our vendors and their expectations and motivation.
Bernadette Morrison - Bayleys, Ponsonby
How has the market been for agents in your office?
The average number of attendees to our open homes remained relatively consistent throughout the colder months, albeit with lower number of listings in the traditionally quieter time of year. With the school holidays over and our community returning from their winter sojourns, recent weeks have seen an increase in enquiry from both sellers and buyers. Last week’s cut to the OCR, and forecasted future cuts, appear to have injected some optimism into the market with buyers and sellers moving on with their plans.
How many deals are being done?
The Bayleys Ponsonby office settled deals for the financial year to date (Apr to mid Aug 2024) increased 44% compared to the same period last financial year (Apr to mid Aug 2023).
What are you telling vendors?
Currently, there are limited numbers of family homes for sale in the Greater Ponsonby area. For those considering selling, the time is now and quality, targeted marketing is key along with engaging experienced agents with solid track records.
Instead of waiting for the warmer weather, Bayleys is taking a proactive approach with our Marketing with Momentum promotion to help our vendors get ahead of the typical spring activity and the upswing in listings. This is a limited time marketing package that provides an additional 45% in marketing value through our exclusive rates on top-tier products from our property portal partners and includes the chance to win a limited edition 2025 Audi Q5.
With the lowering of the OCR, our Marketing with Momentum package and still time to beat the spring rush, we believe now is a great time to be going to market.
Andrew Cosgrove - Barfoot & Thompson, Grey Lynn
How has the market been for agents in your office?
Famously, the media was reporting that the first quarter of this financial year has seen a record number of ‘delists' — ie, property that was listed on the market, being removed from the market by the vendor (‘delisted’). In recent weeks, however, we have observed a noticeable turnaround. More people are attending our open homes and we are receiving an increased number of offers. With the recent reduction of interest rates and talk of more to come, buyers are beginning to commit and some are wondering if we have seen 'the bottom' of the market. From experience, the bottom of the market becomes apparent only when it is behind us!
How many deals are being done?
Though it has been slow due to ‘delisting', there is definitely a recent increase in deals, what goes down always comes up!
What’s the top price you’ve achieved?
Rather than just talking about 'high end' sales, we focus on achieving each individual vendor's top price or top dollar. Our recent on-site auction of 15 Stanmore Street in Grey Lynn saw a sell price several hundreds of thousands of dollars above the vendor's (and our) expectations. We had 11 registered bidders at the auction and the eventual selling price of $2,770,000 was reached after a fierce battle between the top two bidders.
What are you telling vendors?
If you are selling and buying in the same market, particularly if you are 'buying up' – ie, selling your property to purchase another property of a higher value – now is the time to do that. In spring/summer, we always see a lot more property enter the market. If you've sold and are cashed up when this happens, you are in a much more favourable position to purchase at a time when you have maximum choice.
Ryan Teece, WhiteFox Real Estate, Herne Bay
How has the market been for agents in your office?
It’s no secret that the market has had its challenges, but there are glimmers of optimism on the horizon. While a change in government initially sparked some hope for the property sector, the coalition has meant that not all promises were realised, leaving the market a bit flat. However, we’ve just seen the first OCR drop since 2020 – a significant shift from the earlier expectation that rate cuts wouldn't come until August 2025. This move signals that things are heading in the right direction, and we’re starting to see confidence return.
Buyers and vendors are telling us that they are keen to get on with it. They understand that the market is beyond anyone's control, but life goes on and people will always need to buy and sell homes. So our approach in utilising our vast international network and delivering strategies for property marketing that the traditional franchises don’t adopt, allow us to offer something very different to the market.
How many deals are being done?
We are a boutique office that doesn’t focus on volume of agents or property transactions. Instead, we focus on ensuring that our clients’ needs are met, and maximising the deal through high attention to detail in marketing and communication in order to execute a seamless campaign.
We will never compete on a number-of-deals basis, because that’s not our model. What should be looked at instead is conversion rates and other metrics such as average price vs comparable properties, days on market, buyer engagement, social reach, etc. In saying that, and being only 18 months into launching in NZ, we’ve had some great sales recently across Auckland, Queenstown and Wanaka including properties that were in their second campaign after not selling with other agencies. We have also transacted across multiple suburbs and price points proving our digital approach is key and clients don’t necessarily have to pick the ‘local agent’.
What’s the top price you’ve achieved?
We recently sold a home in Coatesville for just over $6m. Across our network, we have achieved prices in excess of $20m and it is not uncommon for our agents to set suburb records due to the exposure our listings receive.
What are you telling vendors?
Our advice to vendors is completely tailored to their individual circumstances – no two vendors are the same. One thing that is consistent is that if there is a want or a need to sell, then ensuring the property stands out in the market is key and every buyer is taken seriously from the outset. The devil is in the details, from presentation, marketing and strategy – all of this must be perfect to achieve the best possible outcome in any market.