The sole bidder paid $930,000 for this Remuera property, which had a $710,000 CV.
"We could be in Spain," the auctioneer announces, referring to a "contemporary" two-bedroom Remuera apartment about to go under the hammer.
The solid masonry "Hacienda-style" pad sits on Kitirawa Rd in Auckland's double-Grammar zone.
It features a covered patio "ideal for that afternoon sangria" and access to a communal pool.
The property has a CV of $710,000 but bidding kicks off at $850,000.
About 80 people have gathered in Barfoot & Thompson's downtown auction room for the company's regular Wednesday fire sale.
The room is a mix of ethnicities and prospective buyers, from seasoned investors to nervous first-timers.
Latest sales figures for some firms have seen the rate of properties selling on the day falling to as low as 20-30 per cent from recent highs of up to 90 per cent.
It comes on the back of skyrocketing prices and new rules targeting property investors, designed to take the heat out of Auckland's overcooked housing market.
With no other bidders on the sun-drenched "casa", the action stalls. After whispered discussions with an auction staffer, the sole bidder ups her offer by $70,000.
But even $920,000 doesn't meet the reserve.
Another $10,000 finally does it.
"Selling now" flashes red on the electronic screen. We're in business.
After several minutes of sensual soul music during hushed negotiations with the vendor behind a glass partition, "Sold!" rings out across the room.
The day starts strongly with five of the first six properties selling under the hammer and only one being passed in.
But by lunchtime the auctioneer has a 50 per cent success rate; of the 24 properties offered for sale, 12 sold outright, seven were passed in and five others attracted no bids.
Another five were sold prior to the auction and other sales were likely to be negotiated in the coming days.
The afternoon session goes a similar way, with 14 of 26 properties selling under the hammer, seven passed in and the others drawing no bids. Another seven were sold prior.
A three-level Onehunga property returning more than $50,000 a year in rent sells to a greying, suited man for $786,000. A youngish Indian man running fingers through his hair almost buys the property inadvertently when the auctioneer mistakes his grooming for a bona fide bid.
A steely faced middle-aged woman fights to the death for a ground-floor Tamaki Drive flat opposite Kohimarama beach. The 129sq m residence has a CV of $1.16 million but is eventually taken for just shy of $1.5 million after a pitched bidding war.
The eventual winner takes no prisoners, firing back higher bids the instant anyone dares to raise their hand above the parapet.
But her grim exterior melts as the hammer falls at $1.46 million and the celebratory handshakes begin.
A renovated bungalow on the Ellerslie-Panmure Highway with polished wooden floors on a "generous" but scrappy 511sq m section is passed in without a bid.
So too is a vacant "dress circle" section on Orakei's Paritai Drive - "one of Auckland's most expensive streets" - which fails to attract a hefty $3 million opening offer.
A "stylish" four-bedroom Parnell home overlooking Hobson Bay and Rangitoto Island is passed in at $2 million and a character four-bedroom house in Herne Bay goes the same way at $1.5 million.
But one property that does sell is the Onehunga home of writer, entertainer and broadcaster Max Cryer.
His four-bedroom "Emerald Hill" villa is more than a century old and has been Cryer's home for nearly four decades. Photos flashing across the screen show an ornate harp and furniture that would not seem out of place in Buckingham Palace.
The Victorian era "blank canvas" sits on 1776sq m of land dotted with fruit trees. It eventually sells for $1.05 million, $250,000 below CV.
At lunch, the Herald visits City Sales auction room where three apartments are all passed in. "You've got to bid to have a go at buying the property," the auctioneer scolds the 30 or so reticent auction-goers. "Nobody's about today."
• Barfoot & Thompson Morning session:
24 properties offered, 12 sold under the hammer, seven passed in and five attracting no bids. Another five sold prior to auction.
• Afternoon session:
26 properties: 14 sold under the hammer, seven were passed in and the rest attracted no bids. Another seven sold prior to auction.
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