Asking prices on Trade Me Property dipped at the end of last year

Property / news

There was a 30% drop in buyer interest on Trade Me Property in December

16th Jan 25, 9:00am by Greg Ninness

The asking prices of properties on Trade Me Property and demand from potential buyers both weakened in December.

The national average asking price for residential properties listed on the website declined from $854,900 in November to $849,550 in December, a decline of -0.6% for the month.

Compared to December 2023 the national average asking price was down -1.7%.

Declines in average asking prices compared to November were recorded in Auckland -0.5%, Bay of Plenty -0.3%, Hawke's Bay -0.5%, Manawatu/Whanganui -0.5%, Nelson/Tasman -0.1%, West Coast -1.8% and Canterbury -0.8%, with all other regions posting modest rises for the month - see the chart below for the full regional figures.

Auckland remains the most expensive region in the country with an average asking price of $1,047,800 in December, down by $20,000 (-1.9%) compared to December last year.

However, while the decline in asking prices was relatively modest overall, there was a much bigger decline in interest from potential buyers.

The website recorded a 30% drop in demand from buyers in December.

However, Trade Me Property's Customer Director Gavin Lloyd was hopeful that things would pick up this year.

"We can expect things to pick back up as buyers return to the market with renewed focus on finding a new property to call home," he said.

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Trade Me Property Price Index - December 2024

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53 Comments

by Toye | 16th Jan 25, 9:09am 1736971786

Leading indicator. More drops coming.

by RookieInvestor | 16th Jan 25, 9:57am 1736974667

nothing to see here, people are just on holiday and spending less time on the internet.

by JimboJones | 16th Jan 25, 10:34am 1736976891

When asking prices are up, the DGMs claim it isn't a useful stat, people are just dreaming, trademe are spruiking, etc. But when asking prices are down...

The housing market was relatively flat in 2024. I am picking much the same in 2025.

by HouseMouse | 16th Jan 25, 12:06pm 1736982408

Yeah agree. Maybe a little uptick (2-3 %) in the final quarter of the year. But flat or even slightly down before then

by ChrisOfNoFame | 16th Jan 25, 12:30pm 1736983833

Big call. 'Investors' are clearly back in the market from recent bank lending stats. (Clearly they don't understand how zoning changes will affect supply.)

by Dgm | 16th Jan 25, 9:13am 1736971999

All indicators pointing downwards..

by ex socialist | 16th Jan 25, 9:13am 1736972014

Some seasonality to these figures. There is a tendency for young families to change houses at the start of the new year to fit with schools and jobs. That means a higher number of first home properties coming to the market.

by Toye | 16th Jan 25, 9:16am 1736972207

"We can expect things to pick back up as buyers return to the market with renewed focus on finding a new property to call home," he said.

They are really running out of good things to say aren't they?

by Dgm | 16th Jan 25, 9:19am 1736972381

They have to say something to appease the speculators

by JimboJones | 16th Jan 25, 10:35am 1736976949

That is one of the more lmao ones

by CN - new | 16th Jan 25, 5:25pm 1737001506

"They are really running out of good things to say aren't they?"

https://youtu.be/Yz246_Pjjkc

The vested financial self serving interests need to instil confidence to attract more buyers and increase the buyer pool, and create buying competition.

The vested financial self serving interests will always say that now is the time to buy, and try to create a fear of missing out to persuade active buyers to transact. Only when there is a transaction do they earn their commission.

Owner occupier buyers: CAVEAT EMPTOR

by Zaphod The Flatulant | 16th Jan 25, 9:19am 1736972361

"The demand for properties on the market experienced a substantial 30 per cent decline in December, the biggest drop across 2024."

"The demand for properties on the market experienced a substantial 30 per cent decline in December across Aotearoa, marking the most significant month-on-month decrease of the entire year in 2023"

Almost like this might be a seasonal pattern...

by ChrisOfNoFame | 16th Jan 25, 9:47am 1736974033

I'd like to know how they measure "demand for properties"? Number of searches? Time spent searching? If so, maybe another RE is getting the traffic?

by Zaphod The Flatulant | 16th Jan 25, 11:02am 1736978574

IIRC, they have a calculation based on listings viewed and watchlist adds.

by IT GUY | 16th Jan 25, 12:18pm 1736983118

I look at stuff I aspire to all the time, here are two on my watch list, is this demand?

Unrivalled World Class Equestrian Estate

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/sale/listing/457546016…

Award Winning Luxury

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/property/residential/lifestyle-property/nel…

by rastus1 | 16th Jan 25, 1:11pm 1736986286

$5mill to sit amongst a pine forest. No thanks.

by ChrisOfNoFame | 16th Jan 25, 2:47pm 1736992020

Yup. Fire risk !!!

by rastus1 | 17th Jan 25, 8:32am 1737055921

Not to mention the mess when its felled.

by tis i | 16th Jan 25, 7:03pm 1737007380

Surely you don’t aspire to that tat?

by Pragmatist | 16th Jan 25, 9:50am 1736974239

Yep, indeed. Ignore the idiots getting excited about the fact people had a holiday.

by NZGecko | 16th Jan 25, 11:40am 1736980803

Its down, down, down further, in NZ Ponzi housing town!

Only a clown would propose housing price growth in 2025.

Head Clown Car Drivers over at wackybacky smokin Onesmokeyroofs: - both AC and TA, come to immediate clown mind!

-When will the housing specuvestors demand more erudite and expert writers on the Onespoof pages? Nar mate.... they just like echo-chambers of ongoing talk of speculation profits (well, actually major losses since 2021:)

by ACB | 16th Jan 25, 11:09am 1736978954

See the latest lobbying effort from the self-interested real estate industry in its mouthpiece rag this morning. Shameless...

https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/rumours-swirling-over-nzs-foreign-buyer-ban-million-dollar-agents-think-changes-are-afoot-46867

by NZGecko | 16th Jan 25, 11:59am 1736981991

Onewoofs job is to enrich Bony Comb Zanders and the Hasley Churchless housing portfolios and the Real Estate Agent fat commissions.

They would totally sell NZ inc down the river and welcome thousands of wealthy Foreign buyers here, to economically displace the lowly NZ citizen wage and salary slaves.

Toerags the lot of them, at Onespoof. They will work any angle to hide the truth of this ongoing "NZ wide property crash" and lack of buyers at today currently still way to high, NZ property pricing expectations.

Glad the expectation of Vendors is now falling, like a constipated brickette into a longdrop!

by rastus1 | 16th Jan 25, 12:03pm 1736982238

With this Govt I'd say it's inevitable.

by Dick Mammoth | 16th Jan 25, 2:06pm 1736989571

Time to get the emails going reminding Winston of his pre election pledge and the consequences of dropping it .Ditto Luxon

by CN - new | 16th Jan 25, 3:00pm 1736992857

The government's priority on raising revenues to meet its expenditures over other policy objectives has unintended social effects.

The current government chose to give tax benefits of over $2.9 bn over 5 years to non owner occupier owners of residential property and now needs other sources of revenue to replace this lost income. The policy of re-introducing interest deductibility has unintended social consequences.

If the government needs the revenue why not increase the tax rate to this level on non EU citizens like this country is proposing in order to address housing affordability for local residents?

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr7enzjrymxo

Non-EU residents bought 27,000 properties in Spain in 2023, he told an economic forum in Madrid, "not to live in" but "to make money from them".

"Which, in the context of shortage that we are in, [we] obviously cannot allow," he added.

The move was designed to prioritise available homes for residents, the Spanish prime minister said.

by kiwimummma | 16th Jan 25, 8:08pm 1737011320

Tax benefits?? Perhaps before making comments such as this you should do something like a basic small business course to understand the fundamentals of how business and tax works. Ridiculous that I should even have to say it to give my comment some independence - I am not a property investor.

by CN - new | 16th Jan 25, 8:51pm 1737013909

Tax benefits?? Perhaps before making comments such as this you should do something like a basic small business course to understand the fundamentals of how business and tax works. Ridiculous that I should even have to say it to give my comment some independence - I am not a property investor.

Thank you for your perspective. Can you please elaborate your perspective further on how you define "benefits".

Having been involved in several businesses and undertaken tax calculations and reviewed large businesses - any deduction allowed by tax laws to reduce assessable income and taxable income results in reduced income tax received by the tax collectors. Reduced income tax received by the tax collector benefits the tax payer via reduced tax payments, and increased cashflow due to reduced tax payments.

The premise that any previously allowed deduction is an automatic right into the future forever comes from a place of misplaced expectations (and there may even be an undisclosed vested financial self interest from reduced tax due to various deductions allowed for tax purposes).

Tax legislation changes are made with changes in central government and the policies that that elected central government chooses to prioritise and implement.

Central government has the power to enact legislative changes and this includes the imposition of any new taxes (e.g GST when GST was introduced, tax on interest income, tax on dividends, brightline test on residential real estate, import duties, stamp duties, foreign investment fund taxes, fringe benefit tax, land value tax, road taxes, excise taxes, fuel taxes, ad valorem tax, estate tax, and even a capital gains tax).

by ChrisOfNoFame | 16th Jan 25, 9:05pm 1737014744

With respect kiwimummma, CN makes some of the most astute commentary as to why 'property investment' in NZ is both daft, and bad for all of us.

by CN - new | 16th Jan 25, 2:33pm 1736991235

"See the latest lobbying effort from the self-interested real estate industry in its mouthpiece rag this morning. Shameless..."

Total vested financial self interest at work.

Real estate agents are unable to find current eligible buyers to buy these high priced properties. If they can’t find buyers at the vendor asking prices, then the vendor needs to cut their asking price, so that eligible buyers can afford these properties. This is the market forces at work.

Instead the real estate agents want to expand the pool of eligible buyers for their own vested financial self interest with unintended social consequences for the rest of the entire country.

Should policy be changed to benefit a small group of commission earning real estate agents selling high end properties at the expense of the citizens and residents of NZ?

by Blackbeard | 16th Jan 25, 5:21pm 1737001273

I bet there is a few RE agents eyeing up the wealthy LA folk that have lost their mansions. Bugger…If only they can get the FBuyers restriction lifted in NZ.

by CN - new | 16th Jan 25, 5:37pm 1737002252

Non residents of NZ who are Australians and Singaporeans are eligible under current criteria. Look at how many multi-millionaires are in those two categories, compared to the number of high priced properties currently listed for sale in NZ. There are also a large number of New Zealander's living abroad that are eligible to buy.

They can't find anyone there to pay the prices that their vendors are asking? Perhaps they're not networked into those potential buyers? Real estate agents need to work harder and smarter when there are fewer local buyers able to afford those price points that vendors are seeking.

The financially vested self serving real estate agents might think that smarter means changing current government policy on eligibility of non resident buyers, however this would benefit a very few at the expense of a large proportion of citizens and residents of NZ via unintended social and financial consequences.

by CN - new | 18th Jan 25, 3:46pm 1737168401

"I bet there is a few RE agents eyeing up the wealthy LA folk that have lost their mansions. Bugger…If only they can get the FBuyers restriction lifted in NZ."

https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/italian-style-villa-looking-for-20m-plus…

The vendors of the Te Whau property, who asked not to be named, bought it in 2019 for $2.65m and then set about creating their dream home.

Bayleys agent Gary Wallace told OneRoof he expected the trophy home overlooking Te Whau Bay to sell for more than $20 million – well above the property’s CV of $4.4m.

“We’ve had fantastic enquiry. Although there’s still a foreign buyer ban, we’ve had high interest from the United States and further abroad,” Wallace said

“We don’t know if it’s the US elections, or the [Californian] fires, but we’ve had a spike in interest since the New Year. We’re showing it to buyers with budgets over $20m.

by K.W. | 16th Jan 25, 2:59pm 1736992796

Do we even have the type of housing rich overseas people want to buy? I dont see anything being built like the residential projects going up in Sydney or the Gold Coast. Buildings like this one -

"Melbourne-based Gurner Group is set to launch a major $800m residential development in Sydney’s Barangaroo. With apartments from $5m and full-floor, sub-penthouses from $20m, developer Tim Gurner says demand for his new $800m residential development has been overwhelming.

Gurner said the average apartment price would be in the $7m to $9m range."

by ChrisOfNoFame | 16th Jan 25, 5:37pm 1737002248

"I dont see anything being built like the residential projects going up in Sydney or the Gold Coast"

You need to get out more ... ;-)

by Te Kooti | 16th Jan 25, 5:39pm 1737002378

Yeah I think whoring ourselves out to international money launderers in Queenstown property sounds about right for the coalition.

by tothepoint | 16th Jan 25, 12:14pm 1736982862

Obviously, in the silly season leading up to Christmas / New Year, real estate takes a back seat.

TTP

by IT GUY | 16th Jan 25, 12:21pm 1736983261

yes every year, so you cannot compare December data with November without a seasonal factor applied

BUT you can compare Dec 24 with Dec 23 etc etc

Its quiet out there, real quiet.

by ex agent | 16th Jan 25, 12:35pm 1736984136

I can guarantee Christchurch is the exception and buyer interest will be increasing there as a result of its exceptional summer weather.

by Whatwillhappen | 16th Jan 25, 1:01pm 1736985714

Canterbury was down 0.8%, one of the highest, so if Christchurch is up, the rest of the region is tanking big time.

by The Man3 | 16th Jan 25, 9:44pm 1737017069

Canterbury is not Christchurch!

I can assure you that the ChCh market is going to climb in price this year!

Reality is that a lot of the 2 bedroom apartments; townhouses distort the true prices that are going.

by Averageman | 16th Jan 25, 1:40pm 1736988016

Err...not the best of summers so far to drive activity from.

by Let me be Frank | 16th Jan 25, 2:12pm 1736989940

The midges are loving it

by The Man3 | 16th Jan 25, 9:46pm 1737017169

Our skin cancer rates will be well down.

Do not think summer has started anywhere in NZ yet?

by WellingtonInvestor | 16th Jan 25, 2:48pm 1736992117

The drop is apart after interest rates dropped so not a good sign for those who rely on the housing market. I also noticed that everyone I have heard or read that has some association with the market, whether that be an agent or a broker is picking house price rises this year. I wouldn't be surprised if this is wrong

by TronMVP | 16th Jan 25, 4:05pm 1736996743

House price rises or falls in 2025 will vary according to region, as they have throughout 2024.

by The Man3 | 16th Jan 25, 9:49pm 1737017340

Personally believe that this asking prices on Trade Me is not worth reporting on!

How on earth is jt possible to come up with average anything when just so msny properties do not have any asking price????

Impossible to know!

by Chaosinflesh | 16th Jan 25, 10:26pm 1737019606

From TradeMe:

You can’t list a property on Trade Me without supplying the basics. When you’re adding your home you’ll be asked for standard details around location, your expected sale price and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, among other things.

As I understand it, the property must have a price even if that's not public? Not that I've sold property there myself.

I also note TradeMe have been very aggressive at removing discounted sales recently - my brother just bought and the house was removed from all platforms shortly after - we found this out because we as family were looking at the photos - and a lot of the properties around were all TBC.

[Edit: tbf it may have been the developer removed it]

by The Man3 | 16th Jan 25, 11:04pm 1737021859

The TBC is to be confirmed.

normally it can take a few months to actually come through sometimes quicker.

There is a price expectation on Trade-me, but that is not an asking price.

There ks no way that Trad Me can give an accurate price for asking prices with so many By negotiation, deadline sales and auctions.

Pretty silly really!

by K.W. | 17th Jan 25, 1:35pm 1737074123

Every ad has a fixed price attached to it (visible only to TradeMe), which is used to align the property with the appropriate search engine listing. Therefore its in the vendors and agents interest to make sure the price given to TradeMe is their "asking price" as otherwise the ad will not be seen by the right buyers, and they will be in breach of The Fair Trading Act for misleading and deceptive advertising.

by The Man3 | 17th Jan 25, 2:17pm 1737076658

Agents always put a lower price range to attract buyers, but they are always wanting more.

Start it low and watch it grow as they say.

No way it is accurate at all.

by K.W. | 17th Jan 25, 5:54pm 1737089655

It doesnt need to be accurate, so long as its consistently inaccurate. In other words, its the trend that is important not the actual dollar number. If asking prices are trending lower then vendors/agents are either becoming more realistic about asking prices, or they are lowering asking prices.

by The Man3 | 18th Jan 25, 3:03pm 1737165828

Kw, they are not actual asking prices!

It is labelled as buyers expectations and agents generally underplay the price.

It is not worth even calling it Asking Prices!!