But this lady was soon out of her shell and into her stride, even if her partner wasn't quite in step with her intentions.
When a Meadowbank home was offered, up went that arm again, and this time it meant business. She didn't have a figure in mind, but accepted the auctioneer's suggested starting price of $500,000.
The arm stayed down as a rat-a-tat series of bids from across the room took the price to $725,000, where momentarily it stalled. After whispering to her partner, zumba lady turned John Travolta - ramming a Stayin' Alive arm high to signal a $5000 raise.
As she did so, the staggered partner yelled "No!", and that was the end of their property play for the day. Whatever they had been whispering must have gone in one ear and out the other. It pays to have everyone in synch when a couple come to buy.
In the end, an auction which offered so much hope ended as mission unfulfilled. The price inched up and the arm stayed down, even after the auctioneer genially offered some advice to the partner: "Stop holding her hand - Valentine's Day was yesterday!" Eventually, as the sellers came down to meet the market, the house sold for $750,000... and the couple slipped away to practise a more unified approach to the business of buying at auction.
They were not the only disappointed party on the day.
Of the 43 lots - representing homes from west, central and east Auckland - 15 sold under the hammer and 28 properties were passed in. Sixteen of them drew no bid at all, with three others attracting just one low offer.
Of course, the sales process extends beyond auction day and, with conditional buyers hovering, many of the properties will, in time, sell. But if the raison d'etre for auctions is competitive and unconditional bidding on the day to drive higher prices, this February 15 snapshot told an interesting story.
All the signs lately have been that the overall market - and particularly in Auckland - is picking up, with supply edging closer to meeting demand and prices continuing to make gains. But most of the properties selling on February 15 seemed to fetch prices below the vendors' initial reserve as Barfoot & Thompson staff negotiated the deals - eking out a few dollars more from buyers and persuading sellers to drop a little.
It's risky to read too much into one auction lacking North Shore and South Auckland presence, but it may suggest sellers have been buoyed by the signals, especially in central Auckland, that prices are continuing to move steadily. Perhaps they're aiming just a little too high?
If the auction gave another pointer, it was that buyers are still cautious, with just two homes comfortably clearing the original reserve.
The passing-in of so many properties without a single bid hardly suggests supply is still way out of kilter with demand in Auckland, but may support arguments that generally we still have quite a fussy market.
Well-presented quality homes that, in real-estate jargon, tick all the boxes will be in strong demand, especially in the inner-city suburbs, but the price will need to be right for standard offerings.
You don't need such a big cheque book to get a decent family home on the fringes of Auckland and a mortgagee auction the same day gave an excited couple just what they were looking for: a newish three-bedroom property, fenced with decks and garden, a separate double garage, a decent rural view of rolling hills and carrying a CV of $275,000.
They got it for $270,000, and the young couple couldn't have been happier. And not a bad day to celebrate buying a house either - revealing to the auctioneer, "it's our wedding anniversary!"
THE BEST RESULTS ON THE DAY WERE:
* 7 Schofield St, Grey Lynn, again showing the continuing strength of this prime inner-city patch next door to glamour suburbs Westmere, Herne Bay and Ponsonby. The old three-bedroom bungalow sold for $930,000, about $10,000 above reserve. It last sold in 1998 for $290,000 and has a current council capital value (set in July last year) of $790,000. People living outside Auckland must look at properties like this and scratch their heads, but it is a classic case of location, location, location.
* 5 Quentin Ave, Epsom, a true-blue Auckland suburb where a million dollars doesn't go very far (the latest QV data in the centre pages of this Property Report puts the average property value in Epsom at a touch over $1.133 million). The four-bedroom home with downstairs granny flat sold for $1.166 million, $16,000 above reserve. The property last sold in November 2007 at the peak of the boom for $920,000 when the CV was $830,000. Its latest capital value is $960,000.
