Published 18 April 2012

For an auction of new retail units, this one was unusual. Despite a quiet few years in the Auckland property market, retail offerings in small shopping centres have attracted strong bidding and sold at low yields.
But at Colliers International yesterday, the audience was small, bidding slow. 2 of the 6 freehold shops in the new Manurewa Retail Centre sold under the hammer after a struggle, 2 were passed in after getting top bids well short of the vendors’ expectations and the other 2 attracted no bids.

The 2 that did sell achieved yields of 7% & 7.4%. By comparison, the first 4 shops in the Merton East convenience centre in St Johns to go under the hammer at a Bayleys auction less than 3 weeks ago were sold at yields below 6% and another 2 went below 7%.

The Manurewa shops are in a development by Murdoch Newell Investments Ltd (John Murdoch father & son) and partners Roscommon Properties Ltd (Peter Walker), John Hooper (Lucina Investments Ltd), Mark Taylor (Karaka Accounting Services Ltd) & Gavin Webber (Webber Investments Ltd).

The property sits on a 3791m² site at 214 Great South Rd, Manurewa, and the shops range in size from just under 100m² up to 148m². 3 have 8-year leases, 2 have a 6-year lease and one shop is vacant. Agents were John Davies & Peter Kermode.

Auction results:

Unit 4, 148.1m², net rent $54,144/year, 8-year lease, no bids, passed in at vendor’s price of $675,000

Unit 6, El-Zed Halal Butchers, 104.2m², net rent $39,010, 8-year lease, top bid $350,000, passed in at vendor’s price of $500,000

Unit 6A, Tokyo Kitchen Sushi, 101.8m², net rent $38,160/year, 8-year lease, top bid $400,000, passed in at vendor’s price of $500,000

Unit 7, vacant, 96m², no bids, passed in at vendor’s price of $450,000

Unit 8, Chinese takeaways, 97.1m², net rent $38,610/year, 6-year lease, sold for $548,000 at 7% yield

Unit 9, Micro Computers & Electronics, 97.3m², next to new ASB Bank, net rent $37,620/year, 6-year lease, sold for $506,000 at 7.4% yield

Bob Dey report

Readers will no doubt think I am being biased in putting up one positive article after another on this website .

Let me assure you that I bring you news as it happens, and if it was bad news i would post that as well.

Four-month battle to find a home
By Michael Dickison

A four-month battle through Auckland’s real estate auction rooms stretched Gareth Berry’s budget from $400,000 to $880,000 before he finally landed his first family home.

Mr Berry, a 35-year-old technology entrepreneur, was spurred by the birth of his second child to visit more than 200 open homes and bid on dozens of houses, wading through a crazy housing market that has surged to record highs.

“It’s nuts out there, and it’s not going to change anytime soon,” Mr Berry said. “I lost my rag a little bit. Didn’t ‘lose it’ lose it – but at two of the auctions I missed out on, I stormed out in frustration.”

He first began looking to move out of his two-bedroom Newmarket apartment last year – but the rentals he was interested in were $700 to $900 a week.

link:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10799360

Hot homes pull scorching rent
By Michael Dickison
Monday Apr 16, 2012

In a burgeoning rental market, several Auckland homes have been priced up to $140,000 a year.

Luxury houses on the market in Remuera, St Heliers and Grey Lynn feature heated outdoor pools, sweeping harbour views and, in some cases, tennis courts.

Premium Real Estate’s Laura Sheppard said most of the heat in the rental market was in properties ranging to $800 a week – but the top end had seen a rise too.

link: NZ Herald

More houses selling – and faster
By Hana Garrett-Walker
Apr 16, 2012

Reinz figures show a surge in sales for March back to levels of five years ago.

Houses are selling at a rate which hasn’t been seen since 2007, latest figures show.

The number of houses sold around the country last month was up by 25.3 per cent when compared with the same time last year, and was the best monthly result seen since November 2007, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (Reinz) figures released today.

Houses are flying off the market quicker, with the median days to sell down 23 per cent – from 46 to 35 days – when compared with February.

link:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10799125

Published 13 April 2012

A former Blue Chip salesperson in Southland, Rachel Jarvis has been sentenced to 7 months’ home detention, 200 hours’ community work & $50,000 reparation for mortgage frauds.

Ms Jarvis, 34, pleaded guilty in the Invercargill District Court in February to 5 offences under the Crimes Act in relation to charges the Serious Fraud Office laid in connection with mortgage frauds.  They included one count of forgery and 4 counts of using a forged document for personal benefit.

Ms Jarvis altered lending documents to secure loans worth $1.469 million for property investments, subsequently leaving investors with properties they would otherwise have been unable to afford. At the time, she was a sales rep for residential investment company Blue Chip Financial Solutions Ltd.

Serious Fraud Office chief executive Adam Feeley said the level of offending was at the lower end of the office’s threshold for investigations, but it prosecuted because of the high levels of public interest in matters related to Blue Chip.

Mr Feeley also said the case was a good example of co-operation between law enforcement agencies.  The criminal investigation branch of the Invercargill police originally referred it to the fraud office after 23 people in Southland laid complaints.

Mr Feeley said Ms Jarvis held 2 roles, one working for Blue Chip selling residential investment properties to potential investors and the other working for Town & Country Finance brokering mortgage applications to lending institutions.

“When Jarvis submitted some mortgage applications to banks on behalf of those she had convinced to invest in Blue Chip products, she changed some of the information supplied to enhance the applications and ensure they were accepted. Exaggerating income, creating fake letters of employment, fraudulently using other companies’ logos on documents, creating fake tenants for applicants and taping applicants’ signatures on to unapproved statements were her methods for obtaining some of the mortgages.

“The investors were unaware of the incorrect information contained within their applications and the false documents were submitted to the bank.”

NZ Herald 13/4/12  link:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10798468

Barfoot & Thompson said on 4 April it sold 63% more homes in March than it did in February, and 16% more than in March last year. Managing director Peter Thompson said it was the agency’s busiest month for 5 years.

The 1246 sales in March were up from 764 in February and 1070 in March 2011.

The average sale price of $571,076 was up 6.5% on February but down 1.7% on March last year.

Mr Thompson said 99 of the March sales were for more than $1 million, up from 40 in January & 41 in February and the highest $1 million-plus month since March 2007. The 180 $1 million-plus sales for the first quarter were 29.5% ahead of the first quarter of 2011.

He said sub-$500,000 sales were also high, at 628.

10 April 2012
Bob Dey Report

Land, not tax, favoured to cool housing

ANDREA VANCE

11/04/2012

An immediate release of land for residential development – rather than a capital gains tax – will ease soaring house prices, a new report says.

The Productivity Commission today released its final report on the housing market, following a house price boom early last decade. It recommends a series of measures to reduce the pressure on prices and support those struggling to get on the property ladder.

Between 2001 and 2007, real house prices almost doubled – an average increase of 12 per cent per year.

Although the boom has started to unwind, house prices remain above long-term levels. The number of households with at least one person employed which cannot afford to buy a dwelling has risen to 58 per cent of all private renters.

Commission Chair Murray Sherwin said younger people and those on lower incomes have ”much less chance of ever purchasing their own home”.

Read the rest here:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/6723667/Land-not-tax-favoured-to-cool-housing

By buying or selling at auction you too can enjoy the benefits of prudent investment in property. Auction provides competition by focusing a property at a particular time and date.

Popularity of auctions for house sales soars

The number of houses being listed for auction is surging as limited supply gives sellers of even modest homes the upper hand.

Real estate agents are touting auctions as offering the greatest transparency for buyers and sellers despite – and because of – the secrecy around desired prices.

They have now become so commonplace that some owners say they have no choice but to join the trend.

Last month alone saw a record 1745 new listings around the country as auctions, which is 13 per cent of all new listings. And in Auckland – for the first time – more than 1000 new listings as auctions entered the market, a quarter of all new listings.

read the rest here: NZ Herald

It takes a while for the message to sink in but step by step the crisis in housing, especially in Auckland, gets worse. Readers of my columns will know that I have been predicting this for over a year now so it will come as no surprise.

And I will make another prediction right now. Nothing at all will be done. Instead we will lurch from one crisis to another and the situation will continue to deteriorate.

If you are an investor you could do very well but you won’t be thanked for it by the masses.

Just grin and bear it because it’s yet another hazard  of the game.

Some renters struggle to find place to live

JASON KRUPP

11/04/2012

Rising rents across most of New Zealand appear to be pushing some potential tenants to look at buying a house instead.

Rental prices across the country rose 4 per cent in the three months ending March from the same period a year ago, according to the latest figures from online auction site Trade Me.

The number of rental properties advertised fell 7 per cent over the same period, while enquiries or demand rose 9 per cent.

Christchurch was the clear standout due to earthquake-related shortages. A 40 per cent decline in rental supply resulted in a 15 per cent spike in prices, with demand up 42 per cent on a year ago.

Outside of Canterbury, central Auckland saw a 7 per cent rise in rents from last year, although supply increased by 3 per cent and demand was flat.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/6723552/Some-renters-struggle-to-find-place-to-live