Harcourts NZ CEO suggests more balanced Spring

Harcourts NZ CEO suggests more balanced Spring

18 August 2010: Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan says an increase in listings in July and evidence more properties will be put on the market soon suggests Spring could be more “balanced”.

Commenting in the latest Harcourts MarketWatch newsletter Mr Duncan says a 10% increase in new exclusive listings in July, when compared to the same month last year, suggests a “more balanced” Spring market might be ahead, with supply and demand being more equitable.

“In terms of the residential and lifestyle markets at least, low interest rates, positive net migration and tax cuts should all provide some stimulus and traditionally Spring is always a more active period for both sellers and buyers.

“Certainly our team is reporting that there’s a strong lift in the amount of people preparing to put their properties on the market in the months ahead, with many already booking advertising campaigns,” he says. “This will be welcome news to buyers, many of whom have been unsatisfied due to the limited supply of quality listings in recent times.”

Mr Duncan says Harcourts’ figures show that across the country the market is performing considerably differently within the various locations and sectors but overall the total volume of written sales in New Zealand was down in July on the same month last year while the average price was up.

The latter he attributes to competition for what has been a relatively limited supply of quality properties and also to the fact that properties in the mid-upper end of the market, in which owner-occupiers are the majority, have continued to be in good demand but there have been fewer sales in the lower-end of the market, within which investors typically operate.

ENDS

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