Many Christchurch homeowners have decided now is the time to sell, believing that the market has finally turned.
Bayleys reported a 50% year-on-year lift in stock across North Canterbury, Selwyn and Christchurch, while separate OneRoof data for all of Canterbury showed a near-40% annual lift in new listings in October.
Bayleys agent Adam Heazlewood said November was shaping to be a busy month. People were responding to the changes in interest rates and acting decisively, he said. They were no longer sitting on the sidelines, he added.
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Heazlewood, who sells mid to high-end properties, said there was strong demand for modern family homes that were move-in ready.
He said while there were buyers out there, there was also a lot of choice. “When you’ve got the right buyer you’ve got to hold onto them and look after them,” he said, noting that some properties with crowded open homes were attracting only a couple of bidders come auction day.
Bayleys Canterbury and Wānaka director Rachel Dovey said the cuts to the OCR in August and October had shifted market sentiment.
She said that all the decisions people couldn’t make or didn’t feel confident making because of high interest rates were now being made. “The handbrake has come off a little bit,” she said.
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Bayleys agent Chris Jones said buyer enquiry had also noticeably picked up in the lifestyle sector in the last few weeks. A property at 157 Adams Road, in West Melton, attracted more than 30 groups in its first week – a big number for a lifestyle block.
Lifestyle properties close to the city and in the $1 million-$2m price bracket were popular right now, he said. “I think everybody just wants to get on with things now.”
Jones hoped the uptick in interest would result in higher sales volumes. He said it felt as if the market had found its “sweet spot”, where both buyers and sellers were walking away happy. “It seems to be a pretty fair fight out there at the moment between buyers and sellers.”
Due to the lift in listings, Bayleys Canterbury has decided to auction off at least 50 properties over two days later this month.
A four-bedroom, two-bathroom lifestyle property at 157 Adams Road in West Melton attracted more than 30 groups in the first week of being listed for sale. Photo / Supplied
The elegantly-styled West Melton home is being auctioned off later this month. Photo / Supplied
A two-bedroom unit at 1/9 Somme Street in St Albans is being pitched at first-home buyers. Photo / Supplied
Dovey said that even at the peak of the market, the agency was only averaging 20 auctions a day.
The first auction is on November 21 with 31 properties lined up for sale. The second auction is on November 28.
The houses up for grabs range from two-bedroom units at 1/9 Somme Street, in St Albans, and 2/41 Taupata Street in Redcliffs, to luxury homes including an architecturally designed three-bedroom pad at 7 Kitcheners Knoll Road, in Kennedys Bush, and a completely rebuilt three-bedroom, two-bathroom villa at 75 Holly Road, in Merivale.
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