A total of 5,766 houses changed hands across the country during May, ahead of both April this year and May 2010, with the national median house price down NZ$10,000 month-on-month to NZ$350,000, the Real Estate Institution of New Zealand (REINZ) says.
The national median number of days to sell widened to 45 in May from 43 in both April this year and May last year with signs of a shortage of listings emerging, REINZ says.
The number of houses unconditionally sold in May was 560 higher than in May last year and 779 more than in April this year.
“The May results show further steady increases in volumes across New Zealand with particular strength coming from the Auckland market. Although prices eased slightly, there are signs of pressure building, with a lack of new listings becoming apparent in many parts of the city”, said REINZ chief executive Helen O’Sullivan.
“We are also seeing indications from a number of other parts of the country of an emerging shortage of listings.”
O'Sullivan said the BNZ-REINZ survey of real estate agents showed "poor quality of listings" (22.4%) had emerged as the second most popular reason holding buyers back, replacing "worries about securing finance" (15.9%), and behind "they feel prices will decline" (30.3%). Also moving ahead of the concerns about securing finance category was "not confident they can sell their house" at 20.4%.
"In addition to the tightening market in Auckland, concerns about shortages of listings are appearing in Palmerton North, Taranaki and certain parts of Christchurch," she said.
"Despite volumes rising from previous levels the real estate market is only just starting to emerge from a sustained slump in activity. The number of sales in May 2011 was just 62% of the volumes in the month of May 2007 (5,776 vs 9,285). For the 12 months ended May 2007 there were 105,886 sales compared to 55,389 for the 12 months ended May 2011," O'Sullivan added.
Meanwhile, the REINZ Housing Price Index fell 1.8% in May from the previous month, with the stratified median house price at just under NZ$359,000.
The REINZ Housing Price Index recorded increases in Christchurch and "other North Island," but falls in Auckland, Wellington and "other South Island."
Compared with May last year, the Housing Price Index fell 0.7%, leaving the Index 5.8% below the November 2007 peak.
See REINZ's press release here and full report here.
Volumes sold - REINZ
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(Update adds detail on, and link to, BNZ-REINZ real estate agent survey).
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