KEY POINTS:
They call it the wisdom of crowds - and right now, estate agents are being trampled by the biggest open home crowds they have seen in years.
One agent had more than 60 viewers through an open home in Auckland's Herne Bay in just 30 minutes.
If the crowds really are as wise as pundits would have it, then the property market may be ready to end its freefall.
But others fear that it is less an example of wisdom than of a mob mentality, rushing to lynch those poor home-owners who have been forced to sell while the market is low.
Some agents put the open home phenomenon down to buyers looking for a bargain in a market lacking in quality homes; others see it as a return to the market for people wanting to upgrade.
Figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand show the median house price dropped from $340,000 in January 2008 to $325,000 at the start of 2009. The number of homes sold also significantly dropped, with just 3706 sales last month compared with 5186 in January 2008.
Such statistics have caused agents to treat the crowds sceptically.
Andrea Ritchie, of Bayleys Real Estate, was swamped by 62 groups of viewers in just 30 minutes at the open home at 72 Albany Rd, Herne Bay, last Sunday.
Groups included people on their own, couples, or whole families that arrived for a viewing.
"I ran out of open home registration forms," Ritchie said.
A further 13 groups who could not make the Sunday open home had a special viewing on the Saturday.
But she said some were just gauging the market.
"I am not seduced by the numbers. While a lot of people are actually looking, there is a handful of buyers."
The Herne Bay house's owners, Dominic Wood and wife Karen, are selling and moving abroad. He said it was "encouraging" to see a lot of people had viewed the house.
"I guess to me it's a sign that for the right sort of property there are buyers out there," he said.
"There's certainly areas where there is pent-up demand."
In Auckland's Mt Eden, Charlotte Marshall showed 58 groups through 6 Milton Rd on a weekend.
Like Ritchie, Marshall said there was a lack of quality homes like Milton Rd coming on to the market.
With the credit crunch biting, people had been delaying selling and upgrading to a bigger home.
Both properties are auctioned on March 4.
