62% Of Kiwis Think Property Prices Will Hold Steady - Survey

Over half of New Zealanders expect property prices to increase or remain the same in the last quarter of 2020, according to a recent Trade Me Property survey.

Trade Me Property spokesperson Aaron Clancy said over 1,700 New Zealanders who were actively looking on Trade Me Property took part in the survey, which sought to find out what Kiwis think will happen to the New Zealand property market over the coming months in the lead up to the election on the October 17.

“While some people have been predicting house prices will fall as a result of COVID-19, most Kiwis actually think house prices will fair pretty well for the remainder of the year.”

Mr Clancy said the survey was conducted before the recent change in alert levels but still gives a great indication of Kiwi’s confidence in the property market.

“New Zealanders are, overall, pretty optimistic about the property market and if we can get on top of this latest cluster and move down the alert levels we reckon that optimism will stay.”

Thirty-five per cent of those surveyed expect property prices will remain the same, while 27 per cent expect prices will increase as we look to wrap up 2020.

“This is likely a result of two things; property prices holding steady to date and unemployment figures which, currently, aren’t as scary as initially predicted.”

“Property prices have continued to rise over the past few months, and in June we actually saw the largest annual percentage increase in property prices that we’ve seen all year - with the national average asking price increasing by 7.8 per cent on the year prior to $699,350.”

However, there were still around one-third of Kiwis who expect to see house prices drop later in the year. “According to our survey findings, the majority of those who think we will see prices fall expect this to happen post-election when the wage subsidies end and the country knows which way the political winds are blowing.”

Election not a concern

The survey showed that the upcoming election was not a major concern for many prospective property buyers and sellers.

“Eighty-two per cent of participants said the timing and result of the election will have no impact on their intention to buy or sell,” said Mr Clancy.

“Interestingly, our data shows that activity in the property market during an election year does not differ all that much from other years. That said, obviously this year we have some added challenges with COVID-19 playing on people's minds.”

Outside of the election, over half (52 per cent) of Kiwis said other events or economic factors will influence whether they buy or sell in the next 24 months.

“The ongoing impacts of COVID-19 including job security, changes to interest rates, and the possibility of a recession were the main concerns for buyers and sellers which may impact their property decisions.”
 

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