Figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand show that property sales in August hit a seven-year low of just under 6000 (5959), down 6 percent on August last year.
Auckland sales were down only 4 percent on last year to 1761, from 1837 a year ago. That’s the lowest in four months. But the regions were hit even harder in the last month of winter, Southland volumes dropping by 33 percent, Hawkes Bay by 18 percent and Taranaki by 17 percent.
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell was surprised by the drop after July figures had shown glimmers of an up-tick, but the drop may be partly to blame, she says, on an extremely wet August. More concerning was the lack of listings in the pipeline.
“The past three months have had the lowest number of new listings of any consecutive three months since records began in 2007,” she says
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“We’ve had 3,624 fewer new listings than at the same time last year. With limited choice in many parts of the country, we’re hearing from a number of agents that people are waiting to purchase before they put their own property on the market, which is slowing the whole market down.”
Norwell is hopeful that improving confidence in the traditional big spring sale months will start to flow through to new listings and more choice for buyers.
Auckland’s largest real estate agency, Barfoot & Thompson, says new listings last month were at their lowest level in more than a decade.
Despite sale prices holding up, the agency said more listings were needed to meet spring buyer demand.
“In August new listings were 1,052, the lowest in an August for more than a decade, and at month end we had 3,818 properties on our books, the lowest number in 20 months," said Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson.
“New vendors [are] hesitant to enter the market. Spring just may be the trigger required to revive the market."
According to the REINZ figures, Auckland is a mixed bag.
Parts are still showing vigorous volume increases, Norwell says, include Papakura up a whopping 43 percent, Franklin up 16 percent and Rodney up 14 percent. Auckland city and North Shore are down 14 percent and 13 percent, while Manukau volumes dropped 5 percent and Waitakere’s stayed the same.
Hardest hit were Auckland sales over $1 million, now accounting for only 32 percent of sales, compared to 35 percent last year. This caused median house price across the region to drop by 3.5 percent to $880,000, and days to sell stretched out from 42 to 44, higher than the national average which is now at 39 days.
First home buyers seem to be holding back, as under $500,000 sales dropped from 44 percent of the market last year to 38 percent this. In the rest of the country, there were 30 more $1million plus sales (up to 831 from 802).
Manawatu/Whanganui continues its healthy boom, selling houses within 28 days and having the second-highest median price increase of 26 percent to $390,000. Biggest August growth was in Southland, up 29 percent to a median price of $310,000.
Auction sales were down on August last year, with 647 properties selling under the hammer (nearly 11 percent of sales compared to 12 percent last year). Only Northland, Otago and Marlborough are showing increases in inventory levels, albeit modest.
