Property market swings further in favour of sellers market

Property market swings further in favour of sellers market

Number of unsold houses in Auckland reaches four year low

AUCKLAND, 1 August, 2011 –

In the space of four months, Auckland has moved from being a buyers to a sellers market, as the projected number of weeks it takes to clear existing inventory has continued to decline. The figure now sits at just 24 weeks, which is the lowest it has been since September 2007, when it dipped below 24.

Data released today in the NZ Property Report – a monthly report of housing market activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz – shows that the inventory of properties for sale across Auckland in July fell by 11% on the same month last year.

Nationally, there are now just four out of 19 regions where buyers have the upper hand, according the NZ Property Report data. Alistair Helm, CEO of Realestate.co.nz, says this is a significant shift:

“Even in the context of the way the market has been moving, this is a dramatic drop in inventory. Winter is of course a slow time in terms of new listings, but this we are certainly seeing this more acutely than could have been predicted.”

And Mr Helm believes Auckland is just the start of a trend, saying, “Although Auckland is leading the charge, it only appears to be the tip of the iceberg, with the nationalaverage currently at 38 weeks, which is a stark comparison to a recent peak of 52 weeks in November 2010.”

Interestingly, this doesn’t seem to have affected asking price expectations. As Mr Helm comments:

“We are now more in favour of sellers than buyers in the vast majority of regions, but the market doesn’t appear to have realised it. Indeed, the asking price of vendors fell by 4%,compared to the recent three month average.”

Realestate.co.nz is the country’s most comprehensive property listing website profiling listings of licensed real estate agents with more than 117,000 real estate listings covering residential, commercial, business and farms for sale.

The latest issue of the NZ Property Report, covering July 2011, plus more analysis of the property market can be found on www.unconditional.co.nz, the news and information website for New Zealand real estate.

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