Property sellers finally drop prices

Property sellers finally drop prices to meet market as large stock of unsold houses persists

AUCKLAND, 1 June 2010 – Property sellers have finally started to drop asking prices to solicit more interest from buyers, as the large stock of unsold houses persists for the fifth consecutive month, according to property data released today. The average asking price of sellers in May fell to $407,349, a drop of 3.6 percent from April, and the lowest since January. However, the inventory level of unsold houses, as measured by the number of weeks of sales necessary to clear properties on the market, remains high at 46.9 weeks.

The figures were released today in the NZ Property Report, a monthly report of market activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz, the country’s most comprehensive property listing website with more than 118,000 listings. The latest issue, covering May, is published on www.unconditional.co.nz, the news and information website for New Zealand real estate.

Alistair Helm, CEO of Realestate.co.nz says, “The volume of property on the market has been steadily rising over the past several months, and something had to give. Sellers with new listings recognise the need to be aggressive on price with the large volume of property available. Accordingly, they’ve lowered asking prices in reaction to market conditions. While we’ve not seen a deluge of cheap property for sale, it does appear that we’ve peaked on price and there’s an opportunity here for buyers. Sellers are hunting them out using price as leverage to beat the competition.

“The volume of new listings coming onto the market in May continued to hold steady. With 46.9 weeks of inventory on the market, we reached a tipping point in May, where both high inventory and prices were unsustainable. Last year we were in a similar situation, but it was the volume of sales that decreased. This year it’s price,” said Mr Helm.

Go to www.unconditional.co.nz for the full NZ Property Report.

About Realestate.co.nz

Realestate.co.nz is the official website of the New Zealand real estate industry, and provides the most comprehensive selection of listings across all categories of real estate. Realestate.co.nz lists more than 118,000 properties each year, representing more than 90 percent of all listings currently marketed by real estate professionals.

ENDS

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