Rotorua mortgagee sales rise

The number of forced Rotorua property sales increased in the final months of last year, despite an overall drop in the number of national foreclosures.

A local real estate agent says the figures are unexpected, particularly as the Rotorua property market was relatively steady last year.

"I'm unsure why that's grown significantly unless banks have decided to take a more aggressive approach and clear their books," Bayleys Rotorua branch manager Beth Millard said.

Latest figures from Terralink show 13 mortgagee sales occurred in Rotorua in the three months to December, up from nine during the previous quarter. Forty-six occurred during the year, up from 37 in 2011.

The local foreclosure figures contrast with the national trend for mortgagee sales, which dipped to a four year low.

Ms Millard said most properties that were forced into sale were valued at about $200,000.

"The difficult thing is that Rotorua sellers can't think that what's happening in Auckland is going to happen here because that's driven by population.

"Our market generally stays the same" and foreclosures occur when banks initiate them, she said.

There were 461 forced sales - 11 per cent less than during the previous three months and 24 per cent fewer than the same quarter in 2011.

Forced sales for the 2012 year totalled 2106, 30 per cent down on 2009 at the height of the recession.

Terralink managing director Mike Donald said Auckland's property market experienced the largest drop.

In 2007, 42 per cent of mortgagee sales occurred in Auckland. This declined to 21.5 per cent in the December 2012 quarter, figures showed.

Auckland's buoyant property market is being credited for this.

"The supply and demand situation in Auckland means any financially distressed home owners there have a much better chance of selling their home quickly, and at a good price," Mr Donald said.

"Consequently, they are much less likely to face a forced sale by the lender."

While Auckland mortgagee sales have declined, a wider regional breakdown shows forced sales were up in Marlborough, Taranaki, Waikato, Canterbury, Nelson and the Bay of Plenty in the three months to December.

Meanwhile, investor owners - those who own between three and five properties - accounted for nearly a third of mortgagee sales in the December quarter, slightly up on the previous period.

In contrast, individual 'mum and dad' property owners made up just 15 per cent of forced sales as fewer cash-strapped families lost their homes in foreclosures.

Mr Donald said the downward trend in mortgagee sale figures indicated "an end to the volatility which has characterised the last four years".

"This is encouraging news for property owners after a long period of difficulty and pressure."

New Zealand Bankers Association chief executive Kirk Hope said mortgagee sales made up a "tiny fraction" of the total mortgage market.

"Of the 1.4 million residential mortgages in New Zealand, there were 2106 mortgagee sales in 2012 ... less than 0.2 per cent of all mortgages."