Industry Videos

▶ 02:06 2022.04.02 A Day in the Life of a Real Estate Agent — Photography, Open Homes and Auction Day This video follows a real estate agent through a busy, highly professional day. With buyers harder to find in the current market, advertising and photography matter more than ever — to capture a home's exterior at its best, the agent often waits until around 5pm to shoot "dark night" photos and video, while relying on natural light day to day for the most authentic look, and making sure the signboard goes up before launch. The service goes well beyond listing: before each open home the agent talks the vendor through the preparation needed, then provides weekly reports and follow-ups — for older owners like Rod and Gaylene, visiting in person each week so they always know how their home is performing on the market. Weekends bring no family time, with the agent rushing from one open home to the next. Auction day raises the stakes further — with three properties going under the hammer on the same day, the agent coordinates vendors and buyers, sets aside a dedicated room for the owners, registers buyers on site, tracks the room and mediates between both sides. Success hinges on communication skill and precise knowledge of each property, and only when both parties agree can the sale go through — as captured when a home sold for $1,070,000.

▶ 02:33 2022.03.02 Auckland City Centre — Average $564K, $645/Week Rents, Midtown Most Popular Auckland's city centre is New Zealand's business, cultural and economic hub. Much of the CBD is built on reclaimed land at Waitemata Harbour, packing Auckland's few skyscrapers into just 433 hectares. The CBD is divided into precincts, each blending residential, commercial and recreational space — notable ones include Wynyard Quarter, Viaduct Harbour, Britomart and the downtown waterfront. The historic Britomart Transport Centre links ferries, trains and buses for seamless city travel. Shopping and dining span high-end brands to local specialties, art lovers can visit Auckland Art Gallery — the country's largest art museum, with collections covering New Zealand and the Pacific — and the city is home to the University of Auckland and AUT. Midtown is the CBD's most popular and affordable pocket, attracting first-home buyers, parents buying for their children's university years, and investors seeking steady income. As at the end of February 2024, the average sale price in Auckland Central was $564,000, up about $20,000 year on year; two-bedroom apartments are the most popular layout, with average rent at $645 per week. Barfoot & Thompson currently holds around 33% market share in Auckland Central, and as high-density residential buildings have increased, more and more people are choosing to live in the city centre.

▶ 01:54 2022.02.02 Auckland Homes Around $1M — Sea Views, New Builds and Rent Covering 30% of Your Mortgage What can around NZ$1 million buy in Auckland? This walkthrough tours homes across West Harbour, FlatBush and Mt Roskill. The West Harbour property is spacious and quiet with a wide frontage: about 300 square metres of land and roughly 220 square metres of floor area, four bedrooms plus a double garage, with room for two to three more cars on the driveway. Three bedrooms sit downstairs for easy, stair-free access. The living areas were deliberately placed upstairs — the home is close to the bay with sea views that shift with the tide and light up at night, so the master bedroom is also upstairs to take in the water. FlatBush has become a medium-to-high density area with new homes and excellent amenities, available from the high $900,000s to just over $1 million — strong value; one listing offers 161 square metres of land across three levels with about 158 square metres of internal space, four bedrooms and three bathrooms, where the ground floor has its own bathroom, room and living area that can be rented separately. In Mt Roskill and similar areas, Auckland's average price is already above $1 million. The video also features a 1930s home renovated into four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a double garage, with a self-contained one-bedroom unit at the rear (small kitchen and bathroom, water and power included) that rents for $300–400 a week — covering roughly 30% of the mortgage and easing day-to-day pressure.

▶ 01:35 2022.01.02 Auckland's Double Grammar Zone — Median Prices from $500K to $2.19M Nine of New Zealand's top 20 high schools are concentrated in just three Auckland suburbs — Remuera, Epsom and Parnell — among them Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls Grammar, two of the highest-ranked public schools. Together their catchment is known as the "Double Grammar Zone". These long-established schools are academically and athletically formidable, and enrolment means access to an education comparable to top private schools — which is why so many parents target the area. Because public schools enforce strict enrolment zones, families must buy or rent inside the zone to get in. According to Barfoot & Thompson sales data for January to July 2024, median prices within the Auckland Grammar zone range from $500,000 to over $2 million. Remuera is the most expensive, with a median sale price of $2.19 million, suiting larger budgets and bigger homes; Epsom and Mount Eden record the highest sales volumes, where three-bedroom standalone homes dominate; Parnell's median is $1.5 million, with four-bedroom houses and two-bedroom apartments selling in similar numbers; and Newmarket, Eden Terrace and Grafton offer more affordable options, mainly two-bedroom apartments. Each area brings its own convenience — so if you were buying in the Double Grammar Zone, which suburb would you choose?