KEY POINTS:
They came, they watched, and most left again without buying a thing in what was touted as the country's largest ever residential property auction yesterday.
The Ray White auction - in the Genesis Energy Theatre at Manukau's TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre - was a razzle-dazzle affair.
Prospective buyers were greeted by an armada of Ray White vehicles and flags outside the venue, and a team of scantily dressed promo girls inside.
The venue could have seated more than 300 yesterday, but only for the first hour did it come close to doing so.
The number present quickly dwindled, with only about 60 prospective buyers left for the third of the four sessions.
Interest didn't appear too high when it came down to business either. The first house up sold under the hammer for $442,000 - a large twin storeyed, three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Papatoetoe.
But attendees had to wait another 17 houses down the list before they saw the second sale. And things didn't get any better. By day's end only five of the 100 properties on the block had sold under the hammer.
Auction organiser Don Ha said a further three properties had sold before the auction and 15 properties were now under contract, meaning sellers and the highest bidders were negotiating.
Mr Ha, owner of Don Ha Real Estate and one of the country's wealthiest agents, said despite the low number of properties sold under the hammer, he expected about half the properties auctioned yesterday would be sold by the end of the week.
That would equate to about $15 million of property, he said. The more expensive properties were more aggressively competed for, which showed those with money weren't hiding from the credit crunch.
Cheaper houses were harder to move, he said, as investors looking for bargains tended to be hanging on to their money at the moment. First home buyers, who he said traditionally paid more for a house than an investor because they wanted it more, were still out there but were becoming harder to find.
Mr Ha was already planning a bigger version for March.
