Few signs showed up in August that the usual spring pick-up in the property market was under way, a monthly survey of the industry says.Realestate.co.nz's NZ Property Report said that while the most significant impact from the spring pick-up was normally
Few signs showed up in August that the usual spring pick-up in the property market was under way, a monthly survey of the industry says.
Realestate.co.nz's NZ Property Report said that while the most significant impact from the spring pick-up was normally felt from September onwards, August tended to show the first signs of the rise in activity.
"The month of August this year showed little signs of such a pick-up, with new listings below 10,000 and down nearly 11 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis," the survey said.
"This decline in listings would ordinarily signal a tightening of the market at this time of year, were it not for the existing high levels of inventory already on the market and the flow-on impact of slow sales."
As the Real Estate Institute reported just 4411 residential sales for July, the lowest July figure on record, inventory levels of unsold houses remained above 46 weeks as compared to the long term average of 38 weeks.
That reinforced the view that the market still favoured buyers over sellers, the report said.
A sense remained of a two speed property market, with the major metro areas certainly stronger than the provinces.
In Auckland, inventory levels at 36 weeks in August were a little closer to the long term average of 33 weeks than in July. New listing numbers were trending lower than the national average, while the asking price had been edging up for the past couple of months, the report said.
In Wellington, where the average was 21 weeks, the inventory in August was 24 weeks, one week lower than in July. New listings were down and the asking price was steady.
Canterbury, with 32 weeks of unsold inventory was sitting right on the long term average, it had a steady asking price and new listings volumes were down 10 percent from a year earlier.
Nationally, the number of new listings coming onto the market fell for the fifth consecutive month in August, with under 10,000 for the first time since June last year.
Listing prices for the country as a whole edged up to $403,423 in August, from $400,481 in July, but remained below the $410,058 in June.
The figures indicated a sense among sellers that no further adjustment was needed to meet the market, the report said.
