Confusion & apprehension lift in Hamilton housing market

MEDIA RELEASE
13 December 2016

Confusion and apprehension lift in Hamilton residential housing market

Lodge Real Estate’s managing director Jeremy O’Rourke says, “After a few months of decreased activity in the Hamilton residential housing market, both buyers and sellers are back in force.

“During the last ten days of November the city saw an upswing in the number of listings coming onto the market. Plus, we saw increased interest and urgency from buyers who are looking to make decisions before Christmas.

“This increased activity saw the city end the month of November with a lot of momentum in the housing market that will give us a good springboard into 2017.”

Statistics released by the Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) on Monday 12 December show Hamilton’s median house price has jumped once again from $518,000 in October to $527,000 in November. This was on the back of an increase to 342 home sales up from 278 sales in September.

The number of homes listed in Hamilton during November were 515 with around 45% of these listings coming on the market in the last half of the month. This compares with 371 listings in October and 428 in September.

Mr O’Rourke says the upsurge in buyer activity can be partly attributed to investors getting their heads around the new LVR restrictions.

“Whenever new restrictions or rules come into force in the housing market, we always see a bit of a dip in activity as buyers take time to digest the changes.

“That confusion and apprehension came into play over the past several months. And in this instance, the link between new rules and buyer activity didn’t just effect investors – there was a slight ripple to other sectors of the market as well.

“But we are now seeing this confusion turning into clarity. And that means buyers are acting with certainty once again. This clarity has also spurred sellers who were apprehensive about listing over the past few months to make the move,” he says.

Mr O’Rourke said developers were also active in Hamilton during November and early December. “We’ve sold several blocks of land to developers over the past month ranging from small developments around the $500,000 mark to larger developments around the $4 million mark.

“With developers confident about Hamilton housing, this is just another factor that bodes well for strong market activity to kick off the New Year.”

For the latest REINZ market data, visit www.reinz.co.nz.

-ENDS-

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