Property: BNZ banks on interest in sale of 25 more branches

The Bank of New Zealand has put another 25 branches up for sale through a mixture of tenders and auctions.

The bank sold 45 branches through Colliers Jardine in late 1996 and is using the same agency again.

Colliers Jardine's managing director, Mark Synnott, said the 1996 auction was a 100 per cent sellout and the new batch would be supported by six-year leasebacks.

In the past three years Colliers Jardine had sold nearly 60 bank branches on a sale-and-leaseback basis, and investors had been asking when it would offer more investments of this type.

Synnott said the BNZ branches ranged in price from the equivalent of a residential rental unit at $200,000 and with expectations at the top end of prices close to $3 million.

The auctions of 17 branches will be held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch from March 16 to 18. Tenders for the rest close on March 12.

Among properties at the upper end of the price range is the Penrose branch in Auckland's Great South Rd business zone.

Synnott says strong competition among banks has meant many branches have been upgraded in the past five years, but character properties also drew strong appeal at the previous BNZ sale.

"This time, with branches such as Hawera and Dannevirke, we have some special architectural offerings."

The fall in interest rates had also increased demand.