Shane Laidlaw Eves Realty

Kia Ora – this is our first blog and we will endeavour to keep you informed of our thoughts and a snapshot of the beautiful prime piece of real estate we are proud to call home.

Let me introduce myself - my name is Shane Laidlaw and I have worked in the local real estate market with Eves Realty for the last 19 years, alongside my wife Deborah, who has also been with Eves for many years, starting off in the Property Management division and then sales.

In all these years we have been asked many questions, but this would rank as one of the most frequently asked:

When's the best time to sell?

Ask an assembled group of property owners when is the best time of year to buy or sell property and you are likely to get the answer that summer is the best time.

However, for whilst toy manufacturers and retailers know that more than 50 per cent of their business occurs in the last two months of the year, real estate agents are actually pretty busy selling property year round.

The fact is - property sales are actually less susceptible to seasonality than some may think. So when is the best time to sell your property?

The answer is really quite simple - when you are ready to make the move. The market is currently on an upward trend in the amount of sales that are being achieved, but not necessarily in price. When taking all factors into account you are selling and buying on the same market, so at the end of the day it does not make any difference when you sell, but it can make a big difference on how you sell.

Choosing the right agent and method of sale can make a huge difference to what ends up in your pocket.

Auctions provide a barometer for the property market

The state of the property market can be assessed by keeping a close eye on the number of properties being marketed for auction.

When you spot more and more of the ‘For Sale' street signs emblazoned with ‘Auction' you can safely bet the property market is heating up.

Based on sales data supplied by realestate.co.nz, the number of properties sold in November across the country as auctions was the highest ever, at more than 25 per cent.

Looking at the latest data for the month of November we saw 1206 new listings of auctions of properties come onto the market across New Zealand, this represented 9 per cent of all new listings. In Auckland the number was 790 which represented over 17 per cent – a new record, so the data is consistent.