There's a surge of Auckland apartments coming to auction but investors are being more cautious and many apartments are being passed in

There is an ongoing surge of Auckland CBD apartments on to the market as many investors decide the time is right to cash up.

The week's auctions at City Sales and Ray White City Apartments were some of the biggest seen since interest.co.nz began covering these events, both in terms of the number of properties being offered for sale and the numbers of people attending.

However not all of those attending were there to buy or sell.

Some of those present told interest.co.nz they already owned apartments as investments and were concerned that the market may be at a turning point and had come to the auctions to try and get a feel for the market themselves.

And although more properties are being offered for sale, more are being passed in to be sold by negotiation after the auction.

Of the nine apartments offered for sale at this week's City Sales' auction, five were passed in for sale by negotiation and at Ray White City Apartments' auction, 11 properties were put up for sale and six were passed in.

Some of the trends which have been evident at auctions over the last few weeks include:

• The number of apartments being offered at auction has risen sharply.
• There has been a noticeable decline in buying activity from ethnic Chinese investors.
• Larger, better quality apartments suitable for owner-occupiers are still keenly sought after and often attract extremely competitive bidding. Generally these are continuing to achieve high prices.
• Many of those who are selling are long term investors and many of the apartments coming on to the market now were purchased during the last boom prior to 2008.
• It is becoming harder for quick flick merchants to achieve the prices they want. Some are having to accept prices at which it is unlikely they will fully recover their costs.

See below for the full results of this week's apartment auctions conducted by City Sales and Ray White City Apartments:

The following properties were auctioned by City Sales this week:

• 228/184 Symonds St. The Citta building. A 33 square metre studio with a car park. Vacant. Sold for $280,000. Rates were $1080 and the body corporate levy $2471. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $215,000 in 2003. The agent was Lucy Piatov.
• 1809/10 Waterloo Quadrant. The Quadrant Hotel building. A 22 square metre, furnished studio, under rental management contract. The auctioneer opened the bidding with a vendor bid of $180,000 but when there were no further bids it was passed in for sale by negotiation. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $165,000 in 2007. The agent was Maryanne Wong.
• 913/85 Wakefield St. Tetra House. A 39 square metre, one bedroom furnished unit. The auctioneer opened the bidding with a vendor bid of $240,000 and this was followed by the only other bid, of $241,000, and when there were no other bids the unit was passed in. The agent was Iona Rodrigues. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased in 2007 for $298,220.
• 8B/2 Whitaker Place. The Whitaker building. A 33 square metre studio with a car park. Vacant. Sold for $276,500. Rates were $1076 and the body corporate levy $4684. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $149,250 in 2006. The agent was Chris Bell.
• 1223/10 Waterloo Quadrant. The Quadrant Hotel building. A 22 square metre studio with a balcony. Vacant. The auctioneer opened the bidding with a vendor bid of $240,000 and when there were no further bids it was passed in. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $190,000 in August last year. The agent was Georgia Featherstone. 
• 2403/1 Courthouse Lane. The Metropolis building. A 100 square metre, two bedroom/two bathroom unit with a car park. Sold for $1.031 million. Rates were $2581 and the body corporate levy $13,463. The agent was Iona Rodrigues.
• 207/85 Beach Rd. The Beach building. A 36 square metre, one bedroom furnished unit, rented at $350 a week. the auctioneer opened the bidding with a vendor bid of $250,000 but when there were no further bids it was passed in. The agent was Maryanne Wong. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $198,000 in 2012.
• 226/57 Mahuhu Crescent. Hudson Brown building. A 75 square metre, two bedroom unit with a car park and storage locker. Vacant. Leasehold. Sold for $242,000. Rates were $1644 and the body levy $7931 which includes ground rent. According to QV.co.nz the unit was purchased in June 2009 for $215,000. The agent was Tony Kelly.
• 305/86 The Strand. The Mirage building. A 40 square metre, one bedroom unit with a car park and balcony. Leasehold. The auctioneer opened the bidding with a vendor bid of $200,000 but when there were no further bids it was passed in. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $300,000 in 2006. The agent was Gabrielle Hoffman.

The following properties were auctioned by Ray White City Apartments this week:

• 5E/18 Federal St. The Federal building. A 43 square metre, one bedroom furnished apartment. Vacant. There were multiple bidders but it was passed in with a highest bid of $280,000. Rates were $1150 and the body corporate levy $3231. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased in 2006 for $140,000. The agents were Damian Piggin and Daniel Horrobin.
• 14B/2 Eden Cres. Argent Hall. A 50 square metre, one bedroom apartment with a car park. Vacant. Sold for $475,000. Rates were $1323 and the body corporate levy $6594. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $430,000 in November 2014. The agents were Michelle and Judy Yurak.
• 508/11 Union St. Harbour Green building. A 22 square metre, furnished studio. Rented at $320 a week. Sold for $174,000. Rates were $842 and the body corporate levy $2506. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $124,000 in 2012. The agent was Krister Samuel.
• 105/47 Wakefield St. Sun Apartments building. A 36 square metre, two bedroom, furnished apartment. Rented at $350 a week. There were no bids on the property and it was passed in. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased in 2003 for $173,300. The agents were Donald Gibbs and Liam Kyle.
• 4/146 Fanshawe St. Marina Park complex. A 40 square metre, one bedroom unit with a car park. Rented at $330 a week. Sold for $380,000. Rates were $1223 and the body corporate levy $2749. No sales history available. The agent was Adele Keane.
•  4D/50 Eden Cres. Darlinghurst building. A 27 square metre, furnished studio. Rented at $360 a week. There were multiple bidders for the property but it was passed in with a highest bid of $185,000. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $134,000 in 2012. The agent was Krister Samuel.
• 2E/2 Queen St. Endeans building. An 83 square metre, open plan character apartment in the historic Endeans Building on the corner of Queen and Quay St. Vacant. Sold for $580,000. Rates were $1991 and the body corporate levy $5136. The agents were Simon Harrison and Daniel Horrobin.
• 410/53 Cook St. Aura building. A 49 square metre, two bedroom unit. Vacant. There were multiple bids on the property but it was passed in with a highest bid of $350,000. According to QV.co.nz it had been purchased in June this year for $326,000. The agent was Dominic Worthington.
• 5G/99 Anzac Ave. Focus on Anzac building. A 56 square metre, two bedroom unit with a car park. Vacant. Sold for $540,000. Rates were $1483 and the body corporate levy $5578. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased in June this year for $515,000. The agents were Ryan Bridgeman and Mitch Agnew.
• 3H/99 Anzac Ave. Focus on Anzac building. A 56 square metre, two bedroom unit with a car park. Vacant. There were no bids on the property and it was passed in. According to QV.co.nz the unit had been purchased for $380,000 in July this year. The agents were Ryan Bridgeman and Mitch Agnew.
• 723/430 Queen St. Volt building. A 40 square metre, two bedroom, furnished unit. Rented at $450 a week. The opening bid on the property was $280,000 and when there were no further bids it was passed in. The agent was Manju Raj.