House asking prices fall 1.7% in December after 3 months of increases

Asking prices for property fell 1.7% on realestate.co.nz in December from November after three months of steady increases. The full release from unconditional.co.nz is published below.

Property asking prices dipped in December ending a steady increase over the preceding three months. The figures were released today in the NZ Property Report, a monthly report of market activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz, the country's most comprehensive property listing website. The latest issue, covering December, is published on www.unconditional.co.nz, the news and information website for New Zealand real estate. Nationally the average asking price fell by 1.7% from $419,586 in November to $412,319 in December. However both Auckland and Christchurch experienced slightly larger falls of 2.4% and 2.5% respectively. Alistair Helm, CEO of Realestate.co.nz says, "The December figures show a sense of caution in the market; limited supply has not seen an increase in asking price, vendors continue to be realistic, while buyers are doing their research before making offers." In addition, 2009 closed with a total of 135,416 new property listings having made it on to the market over the last 12 months, which is a fall of 17% from 2008 (163,488 new listings), and an even greater fall of 24% from 2007 (177,529 new listings). "The fact that there have been two successive falls in the annual totals for new listings since that time would indicate that, as yet, there can be no claim that the market has made a full recovery. Any intimation of such should be treated with caution," says Mr Helm.