Whakatāne Property Brokers’ Bid Day Out ended on a high yesterday as multiple bidders competed to win a doer-upper property on Douglas Street.

Number 69 Douglas Street was the last of 17 properties to go under the hammer at the annual Bid Day Out, held at the Whakatāne War Memorial Hall.

The reception lounge at the hall was filled with buyers, sellers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers and other interested parties.

Going into the event, Property Brokers knew there was going to be high interest in the Douglas Street property, a three-bedroom, largely original brick home built in the 1960s with a 936-square-metre section.

Bidding opened at $275,000 and rose rapidly with up to 10 phone and floor bidders seeking to purchase.

The eventual buyer made his move late in auction, securing it for $540,000 – $50,000 under its rateable valuation.

It was one of five properties to sell under the hammer.

The others were:

■ 162 James Street, Whakatāne, a three-bedroom fully refurbished home on 951sqm section, sold for $800,000 to a sole bidder. The property has a rateable value of $670,000.

■ 1377E Manawahe Road, Mana-wahe, a 3.05-hectare lifestyle property with modern four-bedroom/two bathroom family home sold for $883,000 to a sole bidder. The property has a rateable value of $925,000.

■ 323B Hallet Road, Otakiri, a 6.1ha lifestyle property with two homes sold for $1,090,000 to a sole bidder. The property has a rateable value of $1,140,000.

■ 159B Riverside Drive, Whakatāne, a two-bedroom, sold for $420,000 to a sole bidder. It has a rateable value of $485,000.

Twelve properties – residential and lifestyle – where passed in either after bidding stalled or when there was no interest from cash buyers.

Many had conditional buyers waiting in the wings and Property Brokers agents expect to be busy over the next two days as these buyers prepare offers.

One property, a high-end Pouwhare Street residence, was expected to sell last night with three conditional offers going head-to-head at 7pm.

Property Brokers Whakatāne branch manager Kathryn McKay was very happy with the auction day results, noting good buyer interest, including some that had come in within the past 24 hours.

She said this was the fourth year they had held the event and it got bigger and better each year.

For sellers, there was real benefit in getting wrapped up in the marketing campaign associated with the Bid Day Out, and all the people that came through the open homes.

Auctioneer and Property Brokers regional manager Simon Short said there was some really robust bidding and clearly an appetite for property in the marketplace.

He was pleased to get several properties across the line for the vendors with strong conditional interest in others.

“The measure with auctions is not always just under the hammer, it is what happens next,” he said.

Property Brokers is the only real estate agency to run such an event, scheduling it early in the year.

Similar events are upcoming in Cambridge and Gisborne.

Mr Short said scheduling them early in the summer was a good “litmus test” of where the market was at.

“On the whole, the market is definitely getting into gear. We are looking forward to a big year ahead.”