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QUEENSTOWN REAL ESTATE MASS AUCTION

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April, 2012

Confidence in the Queenstown real estate sector as a lifestyle and holiday home destination are to be robustly tests for the first time since the recession began.
One of the biggest residential property auctions the town has ever experienced will be held on May 3 with 20 homes, apartments and sections up for a grabs.
The one-day Bayleys Queenstown auction includes a range of properties, one-bedroom apartments in the central business district, suburban three-bedroom homes and rural sections.
Bayleys Queenstown director David Murray said the auction included properties owned by Australians, who had used homes for winter holidays but wanted a new location, and owner-occupiers who were moving out of the district.
"Previously, real estate agencies, including ours, have tended to theme auction days around one particular segment of the market such as just bare land, or just apartments, or just stand-alone residences.
This portfolio has taken an umbrella approach to the greater market, so at the end of the process we will be able to get a much more comprehensive pricture of buyer confidence across the board, Mr Murray said.
There were a number of motivating factors behind the sale of the properties. These included overseas owners, particularly Australians who have used the properties for winter holiday homes in a ski destination for several years but who are not looking for a new location.
Mr Murray said the auction also included New Zealand investors who felt the effects when the Government removed residential property tax incentives.
Investors wanted out of the property market to find alternative investment opportunities.
"For example, we have one client selling now so he is cashed up and in a position to buy shares in one of the state-owned electricity generators when that share offering comes to market later in the year.
"[While] we are certainly a long way off any boom, the property cycle has definitely turned and is entering a new phase," Mr Murray said.
Clients were all serious about selling on the day of the auction, which includes two mortgagee auctions, a 900-square-metre residential section and a 8590sqm zoned section at Jack's Point.