New Zealand Property Asking Prices Up

The latest NZ Property Report indicates buyers in the country are becoming more active, and by the looks of rising asking prices for real estate it appears sellers …

The latest NZ Property Report indicates buyers in the country are becoming more active, and by the looks of rising asking prices for real estate it appears sellers are taking notice. Asking prices have been on the rise across the country for the last three years, and the March report indicates a monthly increase of $3,300 to $428,865 for the mean asking price. Property sales are also up considerably for the year, although those numbers do not factor in circumstances stemming from the Christchurch earthquake. Nevertheless, market performance is improving in most areas of the country, with a few notable exceptions that include Wellington, Gisborne and Central North Island. For more on this continue reading the following article from Property Wire.

The message coming from the property market in New Zealand is that buyers are out and about and keen to get into the market, whether they are first time buyers, mid life stage buyers or even investors, according to the March 2012 NZ Property Report.

The seasonally adjusted truncated mean asking price for listings in March rose again to a new record level of $429,865 up $3,300 from February. This pushes the asking price up to another new high. The trend in the last three years very clearly shows an accelerating growth in asking price over the recent 12 months as compared to 2010/2011.

‘Eagerness to buy matched to availability of attractive financial support is however not being met with a consistent and sufficient supply of new listings. This scenario continues to drive this sellers’ market, where it is clear those homeowners who are putting their property on the market are expecting to see a higher sale price as flagged by the new record level of asking price in March,’ says the report published by Realestate.co.nz.

Property sales are strong with 6,168 properties sold in February up 37% on a year ago but figures exclude the unique circumstances of the Christchurch earthquakes.

Claim up to $26,000 per W2 Employee

  • Billions of dollars in funding available
  • Funds are available to U.S. Businesses NOW
  • This is not a loan. These tax credits do not need to be repaid
The ERC Program is currently open, but has been amended in the past. We recommend you claim yours before anything changes.

But listings are not matching demand, up just 8% year on year, so the supply of property on the market as measured by rate of sale has fallen 31% in the past year.

The report says that the next three months will be crucial as property sales traditionally remain strong through the Autumn, and without the ability of the market to be re-supplied with new listings the outcome could be further rises in asking price and sale price or more significantly a stalling of the market as buyers become wary of a market getting out of reach of the majority of buyers.

Around the country the regions of Waikato and Canterbury recorded new record highs. In the case of Waikato the previous high was in December 2007, whilst Canterbury only posted it high last month. Across the country overall, 12 regions recorded asking prices up on prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis with big rises in Northland, Wairarapa and Nelson.

Despite the record national asking price level, there were some significant falls, most noticeable of which was Wellington, posting a 5.9% month on month seasonally adjusted fall to $423,554. This also represents a 5% fall on a year on year basis showing some weakness in the Capital city. The other notable regions recording falls were Gisborne and Central North Island.

Lifestyle property listings rose sharply in March reflecting the general property market. A total of 1,154 listings came onto the market, up 5% year on year and up 10% as compared to February. The truncated mean asking price for these listings rose 7% as compared to the recent three month average to $644,860, taking the level to another record high in asking price, surpassing the peak attained last month.

Across the country, strong growth in listings were seen in Southland, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, Marlborough and the Manawatu all posting rises of over 20% year on year.

Listings for apartments slipped slightly between February and March with 527 being brought to the market and on a year on year basis listings were down 2%. The truncated mean asking price of new listings fell from $402,278 in February to $366,288 in March, representing a 3% year-on-year decrease and down 4% on the recent three month average.

The Auckland apartment market followed the national trend with 314 new listings coming onto the market, down 5% from February and also down 5% from March last year. The truncated mean asking price of new listings also fell to $338,046 from $390,021 in February representing a 5% decrease on the prior three months.

This article was republished with permission from Property Wire.

advertisement

Does Your Small Business Qualify?

Claim Up to $26K Per Employee

Don't Wait. Program Expires Soon.

Click Here

Share This:

In this article