Only one Auckland house sold out of three auctions last week.
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", noneof 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.
But the attempt to sell Remuera, Mission Bay, Howick, Waiheke Island and North Shore homes did not disappoint all the vendors.
"Several have sold post-auction and a number of others are under negotiation," Mr Prentice said.
"There is definitely more caution in the residential market, with more people sitting on their hands."
The country's largest realtor, Harcourts, reported its best month in its 117-year history, saying it had cracked the $1 billion sales figure last month.
Barfoots had its best month in its 82-year history, selling properties for a new record average of $468,151 last month.
