- Buyers placed numerous small bids at Ray White Manukau's auction to avoid overpaying for homes.

- A Favona property sold for $841,000 after 115 bids, highlighting interest from renovators and developers.

- A Totara Heights home sold for $1.265 million after 65 bids, emphasising competition for renovated properties.

First-home buyers and traders were out in force at Ray White's mega auction in South Auckland last week but they were watching their budgets as they fired off their bids.

Start your property search

Find your dream home today.
Search

Ray White Manukau co-owner Tom Rawson said there was a lot of bidding action at the agency's first big auction event of the year, but the bids themselves were small, with buyers going up in increments of less than $500 for some properties.

Ray White sold 30 of the 46 properties on the slate, and while the clearance rate of around 65% was similar to previous mega auction days the agency had run, there were about 500 more bids placed.

“If you’ve got more bids, it‘s people bidding in smaller increments," he said, noting that buyers were worried about overpaying," Rawson told OneRoof.

Buyers packed into Ray White Manukau's auction room on Wednesday for an auction event which saw 30 of 46 properties sell under the hammer. Photo / Supplied

A three-bedroom home on Maitland Place, in Favona, sold for $841,000 after 115 small, quick bids. Photo / Supplied

Buyers packed into Ray White Manukau's auction room on Wednesday for an auction event which saw 30 of 46 properties sell under the hammer. Photo / Supplied

The home was picked up by a renovator looking to do it up and on-sell. Photo / Supplied

The first property to be auctioned on Wednesday set the tone. The three-bedroom home in Maitland Place, Favona, attracted the attention of 22 flippers and developers. Even though 115 bids were made in quick fire succession, the sale price was of $841,000 was only $341,000 above the opening bid.

The tired home, which was marketed by Pat Lapalapa and Jerry Faifua, had been in the same family for several years and had appealed to renovators looking to add value.

Ray White's agents and auctioneers were also kept on their toes when a large, renovated home on Paulowina Place, in Totara Heights, was presented to bidders.

The five-bedroom, four-bathroom property sold August last year for $800,000 and had been relisted with Monika Maynard after a full renovation. Buyers in the room saw their chance to get a family home within budget and the bids came flying -65 in total, albeit in small increments.

Discover more:

- Godfather of NZ craft beer selling his childhood Dunedin home

- $500,000 price drops in New Zealand's most expensive suburbs

- Reckless buy? Penthouse in notorious apartment block sells for $52,000

Rawson said the auction eventual winner, a woman moving from East Auckland, got the house for $1.265m but she had to fight for it. She thought she had it at $1.25m but then a new bidder jumped into the fray.

Rawson said the auctioneer had to think quickly and calculate the bids - a hard task after calling more than a dozen auctions that day.

“Our scribe couldn’t keep up with the bids. They were coming in thick and fast - the price would go up by $250, then $500, then $250, then $700.”

Buyers packed into Ray White Manukau's auction room on Wednesday for an auction event which saw 30 of 46 properties sell under the hammer. Photo / Supplied

An extra $250 secured a large five-bedroom, four-bathroom on Paulowina Place, in Totara Heights. Photo / Supplied

Buyers packed into Ray White Manukau's auction room on Wednesday for an auction event which saw 30 of 46 properties sell under the hammer. Photo / Supplied

The six registered bidders were all families looking for a large home. Photo / Supplied

The woman finally secured her family’s next home for $1.2650m with a $250 bid. The auction opened at $850,000 and a total of 65 bids were placed.

Rawson said while the property trader had still walked away with a decent profit, the actual amount she would walk away with was a lot less once the six months of holding costs and money spent on funding a renovation on such a massive home were factored in.

However, Rawson said Wednesday’s large auction day showed there were plenty of buyers out there especially if they knew the seller was genuine and not just “mucking about” and “trying to get moonbeams”.

The auction also highlighted a real gap between renovated and unrenovated property prices, he said, which is why they saw so much demand for both Maitland Place and another tired brick and tile home on Ti Irirangi Drive, in Clover Park, which netted $771,000.

- Click here to find more properties for sale in Auckland