- Martin Cooper of Harcourts Cooper & Co reports a positive start to 2026, with increased first-home buyer activity.
- The company’s auctions saw strong sales, including a $2.2m house in Pinehill, surpassing its $1.85m RV.
- A 12ha property in Kaipara Flats will be auctioned on March 14, benefitting Riding for the Disabled.
The head of one of New Zealand’s biggest real estate business is enjoying an “unbelievably positive” start to 2026.
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Martin Cooper, whose Harcourts Cooper & Co offices stretch from Auckland Harbour Bridge to north of Warkworth, told OneRoof that first-home buyers had been out in force at the company’s auctions.
“There is definitely a mood shift, more optimism from vendors. Interest rates are at a reasonable level. It is in a far more affordable zone, and buying power is enhanced substantially,” he said.
Cooper said the most sought-after properties were those selling in the sub-$1.2m price bracket. “They’re starting to fuel the market again.”
He noted there had been some anxiety among vendors and homeowners that no bidders would turn up if they took their property to auction, but the numbers should allay those fears.
Of Cooper & Co’s 110 auctions in the past two weeks – 87 of them at its mega “The Day” event last week – 40 sold on or before auction day.
A three-bedroom house on Calgary Street, in Auckland’s Sandringham, sold under the hammer for $2.2m at Harcourts’ mega auction event dubbed The Day. Photo / Supplied
Highlights include the $2.2m sale of a six-bedroom house on Ballymore Drive, in Pinehill, with three bidders pushing the price well above the $1.85m RV; a three-bedroom bungalow on Calgary Street, Sandringham, on the market for the first time in 31 years, also fetched $2.2m, again, well above the RV of $1.85m after action from four bidders.
The lowest price on The Day was the $915,000 paid for a tidy three-bedroom home on a cross-lease site on Seaview Road, Glenfield, about $100,000 over its RV.
“Now we have a good, safe market. We are seeing increased listing volumes of people coming to market,” Cooper said.
Harcourts Orewa agent Ben Gibson told OneRoof that market activity was up year-on-year, and pointed to two sub-$1m properties he sold at auction last week, and another two properties he had under contract at higher price points.
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“A listing I have had for over a year is now under contract. There are more flippers and investors, which gives you confidence that the market is going the right way.”
He said prices are hard for vendors to understand, with some places selling for as much as 50% or 60% over RV, and others selling for 20% or 30% below.
But, he said, if there is a bidder in the room. “At the end of last year, I had a run of 12 auctions in a row that all sold,” Gibson said, adding that they were at price points that ranged from under $1m to just under $1.7m.
Next month, on March 14, Cooper will get a hands-on feel for the mood of the market when he picks up the gavel to call an auction for a nearly 12ha property in Kaipara Flats.
A house on Centreway Road, in Orewa, recently sold under the hammer for $970,000. Photo / Supplied
All the proceeds from the sale of the former farm and equestrian centre at 559 Old Kaipara Road will go to Riding for the Disabled (RDA), a sum that the national charity’s chief executive Donna Kennedy called “game-changing”.
Cooper told OneRoof that while it had been 10 years since he called a property auction, he had an affinity for the charity. “I will have full support and supervision,” he joked.
The Harcourts agent marketing the property, Tim Alexander, told OneRoof that the owner of over 40 years, Lyndsey Kirby, a lifelong horse rider and breeder, had moved to a retirement facility with her husband Mark. She had admired RDA and had already donated to the charity, which serves some 3000 disabled adults and children a year.
“As anyone who has owned horses, I suspect she was fully aware of, and appreciated, their therapeutic impact on humans,” RDA’s Kennedy said.
Alexander said the property included a lunging arena, stable and sheds, as well as a three-bedroom 1930s bungalow.
“Lindsay and Mark have retired. They wanted to see the money go to this charity in their lifetime. It is amazing, you do not get this every day,” he said.
He did not want to say what price the property would fetch, but noted it had good land for stock-holding.
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