Home-owners to squatters | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

A slew of mortgagee sales risks turning some Wairarapa home-owners into squatters in the biggest market shake-up for decades, says Masterton realtor Prue Hamill.

Ms Hamill said her company had put up for auction two Carterton properties on Thursday that were forced sales.

One was their fourth sight-unseen listing since July, which dumps risk on would-be buyers and potentially "even more heartache" on outgoing home-owners.

"There's no guarantee of chattels or vacancy when the sale is sight-unseen and the buyer has to evict anybody still living at the address," she said.

"I haven't had it myself - the risk factor is very low - but who wants to be evicted from what was once your family home when all of a sudden you're a squatter?"

Ms Hamill said her firm had handled other forced sales since July, including properties at Tora, in South Wairarapa, and Upper Plain Rd, in Masterton.

The auction of a Masterton property on Saturday was the latest mortgagee sale on their books and there are two other similar Wairarapa listings pending this month.

The rising number of forced sales comes in the wake of falling property values since the recession began biting in 2008.

Hardest hit this year were the owners of family homes unable to service their mortgage, she said.

"People were asset-rich but cash poor, so loans were taken out.

"Then the markets came down, they lost equity and banks changed their stance on refinancing. Some poor people really got caught out," Ms Hamill said.

"We're living in a changing market and this is the biggest change in this area since the early'90s. I haven't seen as many mortgagee sales since then and people need to understand that things are very different today.

"You can't imagine the misery of somebody losing a house and we really are sympathetic - we're not the enemy," Ms Hamill said.

"It's not pleasant to go in and disturb a family like that because we're family people too.

"Co-operation and feedback are vital for everybody involved and that means the risks are minimised and a better return is far more likely."

Ms Hamill said the best road to a better return must be taken in the first month after the property was listed and, instead of parades of prospective buyers over a matter of weeks, an open home ensures "everyone comes through at once".

"Twenty years ago we were having about the same number of forced sales as we are now, but the real difference today is the number of buyers we can reach out of the region.

"It used to be said that Wairarapa was a sleeping giant. Now we can go much further afield and reach a far bigger pool of buyers despite the present downturn. The giant has finally woken up."