September market below expectations: Harcourts CEO

September market below expectations: Harcourts CEO

14 October 2010: Harcourts New Zealand’s September figures indicate the volume of activity in the real estate market in early Spring did not lift to expected levels, CEO Hayden Duncan says.

“As the figures reported in the latest Harcourts MarketWatch newsletter show, in September we did not see a traditional early Spring lift, instead nationally the Harcourts group completed 23% fewer written sales in September than in the same month last year – with drops of between 12% and 29% across our five regions,” he says.

“Obviously the natural disaster in Christchurch was expected to take a toll on the level of activity in that market, though a 29% decrease in written sales on September 2009 is not as significant as could have been predicted.

“What was not expected though was the low level of written sales recorded in our other four regions. Clearly the economic recovery being led by the export sector doesn’t seem to have filtered through to the real estate market.”

Mr Duncan says overall Harcourts had a 4% increase in new exclusive listings compared with September 2009 and anecdotal feedback suggests there is a good level of buyer enquiry in most locations.

“While the level of property on hand compared to the same month last year varies considerably across our regions what appears to be consistent in all areas is that some owners have been reluctant to enter the market yet. When the warmer weather arrives we may see that situation change dramatically though,” he says.

With the BNZ reporting business confidence has increased, an increase in listings plus a considerable level of as yet unsatisfied demand along with low interest rates and indications banks are easing lending criteria, Mr Duncan says looking ahead it seems a lift in sales should be expected.

ENDS

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