They would arrive on a Friday night, be up earlier than any other guests the next morning and have a real estate agent's car waiting for them, Mr Candy said.
"I'm flat-out scanning documents for them so they can sign them."
It was certainly a positive for accommodation providers, he said.
Just along the road, Aquarius Motor Inn co-owner Janine Williamson said they had seen the same thing since they took over the motel in May.
A few had been repeat customers, coming to look one weekend and returning about a month later before moving into a rental before buying, she said. Others were looking for land to build on.
The Auckland traffic was also keeping central Tauranga accommodation busy with one motel owner, who did not want to be named, saying 40 per cent of guests at the moment were Aucklanders looking at property.
"For us it's good business. They come, they stay two or three days."
There was a mix of people looking to move here and those seeking investment properties.
Dianne from City Suites said for the last four or five months they had two or three bookings a week, most staying two nights t the weekend.
"It's like younger couples that can't afford a house up there and apply for jobs down here ... And newly retired people."
Booking numbers were about the same for Gladys Simmons, part-owner of Academy Motor Inn on Cameron Rd and 15th Ave, who had noticed it get busier in the past few months.
"I think once the Auckland market went crazy," she said.
She would provide them with a local property guide to help them out, but many came with a pre-organised schedule of open homes or auctions.
In Papamoa at the Pacific Palms Resort, the booming property market was benefiting them in other ways.
Office manager Wendy Scott said they were getting five to six inquiries a week for long-term stays.
Most were from people who had sold their house quickly and needed an interim place to stay before they secured a new place.
