Cliff Taylor from the New Zealand Herald reports that a surge of mortgagee sales has arrived, brought about by the shrinking housing market, nervous banks, finance companies offloading assets, and forced sales by receivers.

Millions of dollars worth of coastal property and housing projects are being offloaded as banks call in loans, including entire subdivisions in prime locations such as Gulf Harbour, Okura and Cable Bay.

More than 200 properties are listed for mortgagee sale on the Trade Me website alone.

Real estate agents are predicting bargain coastal buys with "literally thousands" of sections on the market north of Auckland.

Properties listed for mortgagee tender, auction or sale by receivers include:

• Sixteen coastal sections at Cable Bay, near Mangonui in Northland;
• a dozen land parcels in "the North Shore's most exclusive coastal lifestyle suburb", Okura;
• Eight houses in the Merlot Lane development at Pukekohe, south of Auckland;
• A nine-hectare Silverdale site occupied by the Auckland Luge company, which is in receivership;
• A multi-million dollar commercial development in Takapuna, including retail, office and carparking facilities.

One real estate agent told the Herald on Sunday many developers were "between a rock and a hard place" because sales had dried up and banks had lost patience.

Chester Rendell is selling Cable Bay Estates by mortgagee auction for troubled finance company St Lawrence. He said the 16 sections have remained unsold for up to three years.

"Finance companies have had enough, they have to make what they can and move on to other things.

He said the sections were originally priced at $180,000-$350,000.

"I would expect them to go for substantially less than that. You could buy one for your kids and landbank it. They will love you for it."