Auckland's biggest real estate agency says there are no signs of fragility in the market, as it reported higher than expected sales and new listings for last month.
Barfoot and Thompson managing director Peter Thompson says sales for June 2020 were 4.3 per cent higher than June 2019 and that the number of new listings - 1582- was up 56.3 percent on the same period.
On the back of the results, Thompson expects vendors to have more confidence in the months ahead and that there will be more variety in the types of properties brought to market.
“It was a remarkably solid month’s trading with no signs of market fragility,” said Thompson.
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“Sales for the month were at 820 around where we would expect them to be at this time of the year and were 4.3 percent higher than at the same time last year.
“The average price at $953,417 was more than $5000 higher than last month and 1.4 percent higher than in June last year while the median price at $910,000 was $4000 lower than May’s and 7.7 percent higher than last June’s.
“Taken in isolation, the month’s trading was very much ‘business as usual’."
Thompson attributed the upturn in market activity to "solid new listings; an influx of first time buyers; and undoubtedly some catch up business from the slow sales in May".
However, he said it was "far too early to see this result as an indicator that the property market will defy forecasts and ride out the Covid-19 pandemic unaffected".
He said the figures suggested that buyers were "not holding back in the hope of a major decline in values".
Thompson said first-home buyer interest was up in Papakura, Papatoetoe and Orewa, with buyers looking for homes in the $500,000 price range.
Lifestyle areas south of Auckland, such as Pukekohe, Tuakau, Pukekawa and Te Kauwhata, were also on the rise, with properties there selling fast and causing short-term pressure on stock.
According to the Barfoot and Thompson figures, almost half of June sales were for $1 million and above. Houses selling for $2 million-plus made up more than 5 percent of sales, with Thompson saying that end of the market was seeing strong bidding action.
Thompson added: “If you look at recent art sales, people are spending money. You go into malls at the moment and it’s hard to move. People seem to be spending and we are seeing that in the real estate market.”
He said the agency was still mindful of Covid-19. “We can’t be too optimistic as we're still not rid of the disease but also wage subsidies will come off soon and we might see a different pattern in the real estate market in the next few months,” he said.
