The housing market remains mired in a protracted slump as it heads into winter, according to the latest figures from property website Realestate.co.nz.
There were 26,685 residential properties available for sale on the website at the end of May, the highest number for the month of May since May 2015.
Stock levels were also up 81% compared to May 2021 when the market was approaching the peak of the recent boom.
A bigger concern for the real estate industry is that the current high level of stock for sale has occurred when new listings have been at their lowest level ever.
Realestate.co.nz received just 7359 new residential listings in May.
That was the lowest number of new listings the website has ever received in the month of May and was down 18% compared to May last year.
That means the number of homes coming onto the market has almost halved since 2008, which was the year the Global Financial Crisis hit.
The fact that stock levels are so high and new listings are so low can mean only one thing - properties are sitting around unsold.
Anecdotal evidence from agents suggests the biggest problem is vendors with unrealistic price expectations refusing to accept how much the market has changed over the last 18 months.
There is a general feeling among many in the industry that vendors with unrealistic price expectations need to bite the bullet and accept a lower price than they had been hoping for, or take their properties off the market and stop wasting everyone's time.
Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Williams said the low number of new listings was a symptom of the uncertainty in the market.
"Kiwis are known for delaying buying and selling decisions during times of uncertainty," she said.
"And from interest rates to who will be in government next term, things are difficult to predict right now.
"The combined total of new listings coming onto the market nationally during March, April and May (autumn) this year was just 23,743.
"We typically see around 30,000 new listings added to the [Realestate.co.nz] site between March and May and have done so for the last 16 years, so this is a significant drop," she said.
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