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Recovery in the housing market remained soft in February with house sale volumes at their lowest since at least 1992, figures released by REINZ today show. The average number of days to sell a property rose to 46 days in February from 43 days in January and the median house price was unchanged at NZ$350,000. (Update 1 includes comments and implications from ASB Economist).

There were 5,029 sales in February, up from 3,666 in January, but was down from 5,228 a year ago and was the lowest February sales total since the REINZ started publishing figures in 1992.

The Residential Section Price Index fell 11.3% in February from January and was down 3.4% from a year ago, REINZ said.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand President Peter McDonald said agents reported an air of caution amongst buyers, most of whom were genuine home seekers as opposed to investors.

“Recent Government discussions of potential tax changes have halted the number of inquiries from investors who usually buy at the lower end of the price range. Most interest at present is in the $400,000 to $600,000 bracket and no change in interest rates is keeping the genuine home buyers in the market,” McDonald said.

See the full REINZ news releases here:
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The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has reported that house sales volumes fell to 3,666 in January, the lowest level since the REINZ started its records in 1992. The institute blamed uncertainty over possible changes to property taxes for the slowdown in the market, but said it hoped Prime Minister John Key’s speech this week had ended that uncertainty and would signal a pick-up in the market. (Update 3 includes ASB economist comment on market losing momentum, update 4 adds interactive chart at the bottom of page)

Sales in January were down from 4,957 in December and 3,706 in January last year, which was near the trough in prices seen during the slump from early 2008 to early 2009.

The REINZ confirmed leaks of its data earlier this week showing the median house price in January was NZ$350,000, down from NZ$360,000 in December. The average number of days to sell a property rose by 10 days to 43 days between December and January, but was below the 59 seen in January last year and the 49 seen in January 2008.

“Activity in the residential property market was quiet last month on the back of uncertainty over what actions the Government intended to take on the recently announced tax working group recommendations,” REINZ President Peter McDonald said in a press release (below)

“Hopefully the market will start to pick up now things are a bit clearer after the Prime Minister gave his opening speech to Parliament on Tuesday. He indicated the Government has ruled out proposals to introduce a land tax, comprehensive capital gains tax or new tax on residential investment properties,” McDonald said.

“House values seem to be holding nicely at the moment though and it’s becoming a more settled market as times goes by,” he said.

Median prices fell or were stable in Auckland, Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay, Wanganui/Manawatu, Wellington, Nelson/Marlborough, Canterbury/Westland, Central Otago Lakes and Southland. Median prices rose slightly in Northland, Taranaki and Otago.

Here is the full REINZ release below. We will update this article through the morning with more details.
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Bernard Hickey delivers a Housing Report in association with BNZ, including news that the number of home sale listings on realestate.co.nz and trademe.co.nz has spiked in recent weeks. This is similar to the spike seen through late 2008 as the housing market went into a downturn and home sellers tried to sell at the peak.

The numbers of houses listed for rent has also moved sharply in recent weeks, falling much faster than it did through early 2009. A fall is usual at this time of year, but this seems sharper, possibly as some landlords put their houses up for sale, sensing house prices have peaked.

Meanwhile, the number of mortgagee listings has also risen sharply, reversing a 3-6 month down trend as banks and receivers for finance companies get tougher now the worst of the recession is over and they work through their backlogs of delinquent loans. All these factors are likely to keep the pressure on for lower or flatter prices through 2010.

The government valuation agency (QV) indices released today on residential property show a national increase in property values in the three months to January from December. Values in January were 4.4% above the same time last year, but remained 4.3% below the market peak of late 2007. This is compared to 4.9% below the peak in the three months to December.

QV said the house prices average sales increase across New Zealand of $409,807 in January, up from the $404,671 in December is a less reliable measure of value change than the QV index because the average is dependable on which part of the market is active at the time.

The QV indices show an increase in some sectors of the housing market but overall activity was lower than expected in January, QV Valuations Glenda Whitehead said.

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Auckland’s largest real estate agency, Barfoot and Thompson, said its average sale price in January was NZ$505,301, down 8.6% from December, but up 0.5% from January 2009. Sales traditionally fell away over the holiday period to 583. This was down from 648 in December, but up 13.2% from a year ago, Barfoots said. (Update 1 includes full release.)

Here is the full release from Barfoot and Thompson:

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The number of new properties listed for sale on Realestate.co.nz in January fell from December for the first time in four years and asking prices on the site also fell as the market remained sluggish and favoured buyers, Realestate.co.nz reported.

Here is the rest of the release on the monthly report from real estate.co.nz below and the full report is available at unconditional.co.nz.

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