10 Jun 2012

Mortgagee sales surge to record high

7:11 am on 10 June 2012

The number of mortgagee property sales so far this year is at a record high.

Terralink says there were 524 forced sales from January to March - 100 more than the same period last year and five more than the previous record in 2010.

That's almost six sales per day.

Terralink, a property research company, expects the trend to continue.

Managing director Mike Donald says he would not be surprised if the number of forced sales for the entire year ends up eclipsing the previous annual record of 3024 sales in 2009.

Northland and Otago are hit the hardest with increases of 155% and 153% respectively.

Property investors are those under the most pressure.

Mr Donald says the figures show New Zealand is still a long way off economic recovery.