KEY POINTS:
Only one out of eight Auckland apartments auctioned yesterday sold for more than the previous sale price and three units received no bids, further signs of a decline in the apartment market.
A Mount St unit sold for $10,000 above its previous price but the units passed in all failed to reach reserves set by the vendors.
Other units auctioned by City Sales at the Hopetoun Alpha on Beresford St sold for less than the vendors had paid.
A studio unit in Queen St's City Life Hotel sold at yesterday's auction for $100,000. Mike Richards, sales manager at City Sales, said the vendor had previously paid far more for the level-19 unit leased to the hotel.
A one-bedroom unit in the 40-level Harbour City block on Gore St which had sold off-the-plans for $270,000 three years ago yesterday fetched just $196,000.
Yesterday's auction came after a string of low-priced sales in the last few months and Hanover Group's move to quit 92 units in Vincent St. Hanover put these up for tender after problems recovering its money.
Martin Dunn of City Sales said it was only units sold off the plans which were fetching low prices and other apartments were selling at good levels.
Bidding was strongest yesterday for a two-bedroom unit in the high-rise Mount Terrace block at 33 Mount St in the CBD. That unit on level 13 previously sold for $195,000 but yesterday fetched $205,000.
Three units passed in after vendor bids were placed with auctioneer Neil Newman were:
* A two-bedroom unit in Santa Fe at 21 Day St in the CBD. Vendor bidding on this place with one carpark got to $325,000 when Newman announced the reserve was not met. The owner bought it in July 2005 for $223,500.
* A one-bedroom unit with two carparks in a leaky project at 3 Morningside Drive in Kingsland was passed in after a bid of $155,000. The owner bought it in March 2002 for $158,000.
* A ground-floor two-bedroom unit in Eden Apartments at 32 Eden Cres in the CBD got to $140,000 before Newman passed it in. The owner paid $188,000 for this unit in June 2002.
Newman drew the auction room's attention to a clause in the Kingsland unit's auction sales contract which protected the current owner against litigation from a buyer over leak issues.
It said the buyer must sign off a clause stating they had been advised that there were extensive remedial works to be undertaken, so would release the vendor from warranties relating to structural integrity, water damage and weathertightness.
