New Home Listings Unseasonably Low
AUCKLAND, 12 September 2014 – The usual surge in new home listings on the market in August is noticeably weaker this year compared to the past,
with just 9,482 new listings, according to figures released by Realestate.co.nz, the website with New Zealand’s largest number of homes for sale.
New residential property listings are 11.5% down on the same time last year. This fall affected most regions around the
country, with only Northland, the Coromandel and Central North Island bucking the trend.
“Realestate.co.nz represents 96% of all property listings by real estate agents in New Zealand, so we get a very representative overview
of the market,” says the company’s Marketing Manager, Paul McKenzie.
“Every August, we start to see strong lifts in new home listings after the quieter winter months. The expected lift did
come this year, but it’s not nearly as dramatic as in the past. For instance, we have seen an increase of 3.5% from July
to August this year, compared to the same time last year, where we saw a significant lift of 8.7%. However, we still
expect an upsurge before the end of the year, as new listings usually peak in October and November.”
Asking prices have also eased compared to July, but remain at near record levels. Nationally, the average asking price
is up 4.5% on the same time last year, with 12 of the 19 regions in New Zealand recording higher average asking prices
than a year ago. In Auckland, for instance, the average asking price rose from $650,114 a year ago to $698,494 this
August, after breaching the $700,000 mark in June and July. In Wellington, the average asking price in August 2014 was
$457,145 (up from $445,531 the year before) and in Canterbury $449,995 (up from $422,043 the year before).
The prices properties fetch may be affected by a shortage of supply. The total inventory of homes available for sale at
the end of August – only 36,694 – sits close to the record low levels seen in August last year.
ENDS