The housing market has made a very slow start to 2024, with January's sales at their second lowest level in at least 32 years.
According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, 2995 residential properties were sold last month.
Interest.co.nz's property sales records, dating back to 1992, show the only time the number of homes sold in a January month was lower than it was this year was in January last year, when 2855 properties were sold.
And both of those months were the only times January sales have been below 3000 since 1992.
To give an idea of how much sales numbers have fallen over the last year or so, there were 3761 sales in January 2022 and 5135 in January 2021.
The record number of January sales was in 2003/04, when more than 8000 properties were sold in each of those months. Sales numbers have been in more or less steady decline ever since. And looking at the latest figures, it's hard not to conclude that the slump in sales that dominated the housing market last year appears likely to continue this year.
Last month's low sales numbers are particularly concerning because the amount of houses on the market for sale is running at high levels, so buyers have plenty to choose from and are under less pressure agree to a price when they find a property that suits their needs. That situation will likely make for some hard bargaining over price.
Price movements were mixed last month, with the REINZ House Price Index showing declines in prices in 13 of the 24 main urban districts it covers, improvements in 10 districts and no change in one. (See the table below for the full figures).
The REINZ's national median house price was $760,000 last month, down 2.5% compared to December 2023.
In the critical Auckland housing market, the median price dropped back below $1 million last month to $975,000, down 6.7% compared to December last year.
The number of sales made in Auckland last month was down a whopping 17.2% compared to January last year.
"Despite the wave of listings favouring buyers, the challenges of last year, including the cost of living, inflation, interest rate changes and government reforms, mean some buyers remain cautious," REINZ Chief Executive Jen Baird said.
"However, most regions are reporting more buyer activity across the board, with some seeing a particular surge in first home buyer interest.
"Vendors are also being confident but realistic with prices as activity increases over the summer months.
"This is likely to resolve in inventory moving over the coming more active months in the year," she said.
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REINZ House Price Index - January 2024
Volumes sold - REINZ
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Median price - REINZ
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