Agents gamble on Vegas trips to boost house listings

Land for sale sold sign, Dunedin. Photo / Ross Setford

Real estate agents are going to great extremes to lure home-owners to market - including offering free trips to Las Vegas. Mother and son real estate team Jacqui and Jay Dellar from Harcourts are targeting home owners in Grey Lynn, Ponsonby and Herne Bay, where the number of properties for sale is at an all time low.

The pair are giving away the trips - including flights and accommodation for two - to the ritzy American tourist hot spot if homeowners sell their house through them.

Figures in the Herald on Sunday last week showed listings in Auckland were down to single figures or zero in some areas.

Experts said the lack of listings was because of the seasonal dip and also because homeowners were staying put as homes continue to increase in value.

"As everyone knows, listings are low at the moment and we just wanted to do something different to get people interested," Jay Dellar said.

"There are very few terms and conditions so, as long as people list and sell with us before the end of the year, they get tickets to Las Vegas or travel vouchers for $3200."

Jay Dellar used knowledge gained in his marketing degree to come up with the promotion, which had cost a couple of thousand in printing and materials.

He said they had given away three trips already and were doing another leaflet drop in Herne Bay this weekend.

"It's coming out of our pockets but we wanted to come up with something different so we are hoping it is well received," he said.

"People are sick of getting leaflets from agents in their letter boxes so we thought we would give them something a bit different."

Auckland house prices were now at a record average high of $975,087, and are expected to hit the $1 million mark next year.