Barfoot & Thompson’s managing director Peter Thompson says that January sales figures, released today, show a promising start to 2020.
And, better yet, he expects the year to go well.
“We’re going to have a good year,” Thompson says. “It’s pleasing to have the election date set for September.
“Previously [election dates] in November cuts out the whole market. So now we get October, November and December, the busy months, clear.”
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Thompson says the company is looking positively at the year ahead, like only to be affected now by an external disaster, such as coronavirus.
“There’s more demand than supply, there are good buyers on the market.”
The January figures reflect this, with median prices up 6.9 percent to $885,000 and sales volume up just under 4 percent on this time last year.
But worryingly, listings stock is still not there, with January listings the lowest they’ve been for four years.
The company says new listings went up 11 percent to 1080 in January, from 981 last year, but the month-end available stock of listings is now down to 3547, nearly 800 less than in January last year – though up from December.
“The market is still tight in terms of choice,” Thompson says.
“This number of listings at the end of January is the lowest they have been at the start of a year in four years and given the level of interest being shown by buyers, now represents an excellent time for owners to list.”
Thompson points to growing numbers at open homes, auctions having clearance rates under the hammer and immediately-post auctions around the low to mid 70 percent range.
“That’s well up on the slow period, where [clearance rates] were around 30 percent, but not at the peak, when it was 85 to 90 percent.
“We’ve noticed a rebound since October, with the majority having good bidders.
“ January is always a mixed month with holidays, but properties are starting to come to the market now and it’s business as usual.
“People are out looking , so I’m quite confident that the next six to eight weeks will be very strong.”
Thompson says that the buoyancy is across the board. He says higher priced properties, up one third on last January, always come into their own in the summer (“the swimming pool at this time of year looks so much nicer”).
But properties around the $600,000 to $650,000 range are doing well in what Thompson names as a new growth cycle for Auckland’s housing market, with buyers prepared to pay near record prices.
“We’re seeing a lot of first home buyers in areas like Beachhaven on the North Shore, Glendene, Glen Eden in the west.”
In South Auckland, Thompson points to growing interest in Papatoetoe and Manurewa, all on transport hubs and close to jobs. Takanini with new property is attracting first home buyers.
“It’s not just about the central city.”
But Thompson tempers the confidence with a word of caution, saying that vendors still need to be realistic about the price they are expecting for their homes in this market.
“We don’t see the prices going up like they did at 2016 levels,” he says.