Number of houses finding buyers at auction slumps

All the Auckland and Waiheke Island houses at a Bayleys auction last week were passed in and some did not attract a single bid.

Bayleys spokesman Neil Prentice said that although the Viaduct Harbour auction room was "packed", none of the properties sold.

Wednesday’s Barfoot & Thompson auction of six houses was also disappointing.

No one bid for two houses, three were passed in and only one sold.

Another Bayleys house auction on Wednesday saw six out of nine houses passed in, meaning they were not sold but a deal could be reached later.

Economists have been predicting a cooling housing market for months and advising first-time buyers to hold off.

Bayleys advertised 18 houses as open for bids the previous Wednesday.

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