Passed in: Auckland apartments fail to sell at latest weekly auctions

City of No Sails: All nine apartments at three of the Auckland's biggest real estate agents failed to sell at auction. Photo:stock

Of the nine Auckland apartments put under the hammer at three of the city's largest real estate companies - not a single one was taken off the market.

City Sales, Barfoot & Thompson, and Ray White held separate auctions this week - with some apartments failing to secure a single bid.

Interest.co.nz reported that at the City Sales auction earlier this week only one one-bedroom unit in a new development on Scotia Place was put under the hammer - but passed in without receiving any bids.

The market research publication said Barfoot & Thompson's main apartment auction was next.

There a two-bedroom penthouse unit in the Queens Lodge complex in Newmarket also passed in, despite multiple bids.

Interest.co.nz reported the bids "slowly inched up" but none could meet the set reserve price.

The publication said the Ray White City Apartments' auction followed with seven apartments on offer.

However, even with a good crowd of potential buyers both in the room and on the phone, all of the apartments failed to sell.

Two apartments received no bids at all, and the remaining, some of which got multiple offers, all passed in at auction.

This follows the latest CoreLogic report out today which indicated residential sales across the board were sluggish.

Sales volumes were down 25 per cent from 8400 sales in September last year to 6300 this September.

A trend head of research Nick Goodall said was set to continue.

"Based on current market activity, we expect October's sales volumes will remain low, following on from an already-weak September.

"The prolonged coalition discussions stalled market activity in October and with the new Government proposing further scrutiny on property speculators it's unlikely we'll see a lift in activity in the short term."

Meanwhile Colliers International's report into the first six months of the year, showed its average asking price for a 3-bedroom, 133sq m apartment was $1.8m, up $400,000 from the last half of 2016.

A one-bedroom, 41sq m apartment in the CBD had an average asking price of $485,317, up $57,687 from the end of last year.