Harcourts Notes Property Buyers Still Pressured

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Harcourts Notes Property Buyers Still Under Pressure

Property buyers are continuing to find the process of obtaining a new property a competitive experience, according to CEO of Harcourts New Zealand, Bryan Thomson.

Commenting in the May 2005 edition of the Harcourts MarketWatch newsletter, Mr Thomson noted that the property market in April operated at a similar level to last year’s buoyant April. However with the number of Harcourts exclusive listings for April 2005 just below the level at the same time last year, buyers in many locations, such as Christchurch, Invercargill and Central Auckland were still struggling to find their desired property.

As a result of the demand, Mr Thomson noted that the average price in all five of Harcourts’ designated regions around the country had experienced at the very least a 5 percent average price rise in the value of its sale in April compared to April 2004, with the highlight being Christchurch Metro up 24 percent from $266,000 to $330,000.

Mr Thomson also highlighted one surprise in the Harcourts statistics which showed fewer properties around the country were being offered for sale by auction. “As the most common and accepted method of sale enabling buyers to compete under totally transparent conditions so sellers achieve the best possible price, today’s market with listings in short supply is ideal for sellers to use auction as their preferred method of sale.”

He advised sellers when interviewing a sales consultant and company on what options they offered to achieve the best possible result, was to ask them about auction and profile marketing, which “combined can provide a power advantage over other property sellers who didn’t select them.”

ENDS

Harcourts MarketWatch is a monthly newsletter produced to provide an up to date snapshot of Harcourts real estate statistics and trends. If you would like to receive this newsletter, please contact Helen Fergusson, Communications Manager, Harcourts International Ltd at: helen.fergusson@harcourts.co.nz

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