The cracks are starting to show in the Queenstown Lakes property market, with 11 of the 16 mortgagee sales in Otago in May occurring in the Queenstown Lakes district, according to Terralink.
The reported Terralink statistics had not been broken down further between Wanaka and Queenstown, but Wanaka real estate agents describe mortgagee sales in the area as "a trickle" compared with the hundreds of bank-forced property sales occurring annually throughout New Zealand.
According to Terralink statistics, Auckland continues to contribute the bulk of the nation's mortgagee sales, which reached a record high of 247 in May.
The Terralink data also showed individuals and corporate property investors were hardest hit by mortgagee sales, with 81% for owners with more than one property.
Bayleys Wanaka real estate agent Mat Andrew said yesterday that prior to 2004 he did not get instructions from banks to sell properties. Back then, property values were still increasing and people were revaluing their properties against the amount of their loans.
Even now that he was getting the occasional bank instructions, it was not big business, Mr Andrew said.
"I have been doing mortgagee work for three years now. It has just started occurring. Not a huge amount compared to the rest of the country. There's just a trickle of mortgagee sales," Mr Andrew said.
Locations real estate agent and Real Estate Industry Wanaka spokesman Ross Rainsford said there had only been a small handful of mortgagee sales over the past two years, mainly affecting developers or development sites rather than family homes.
Mortgagee sales in the past two years included bare sections on Mt Aspiring Rd, which were earmarked for a hotel; the former Bullock Lodge Motels, which sold recently; and sections in an Ardgour Valley subdivision near Tarras, Mr Rainsford said.
