Buyers may be back in the housing market, but they are dithering.
April’s Real Estate Institute numbers are a mixed bag, but in general reflect the fact that prospective buyers are taking longer to pull the trigger on formal offers, in the hopes of securing a better price.
The institute’s house price index, as a measure of inflation, is down 0.8% on the prior month, though up 2.8% year-on-year.
That’s less than half the average annual growth of 5.8% in the residential market experienced over the past five years, and 15.1% below the 2021 peak.
Meanwhile, the number of concluded sales, at 5559, was up by more than a quarter (25.3%) on last April, but down 17.3% on the prior month’s 6721.
And while there were more listings last month, up 34.9% to 9636 on last April, it’s taking longer to conclude deals, particularly in Auckland, which has hit a 23-year high of 44 days.