The housing market appears to have ended summer on a soft note, with stock for sale at a 10-year high and average asking prices almost flat.
Property website Realestate.co.nz had 36,870 residential properties available for sale at the end of March, which was the most in any month of the year since April 2015.
That was up 10.9% compared to the end of March last year, and 25.9% higher than March 2023.
It also means the number of homes available for sale has almost doubled (+90%) since March 2021 when the market was in boom mode.
Ten regions, including the main centre powerhouses of Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury, posted double digit percentage increases in stock for sale compared to March last year. See the chart below for the full regional stock figures.
Such high levels of stock at this time of year are a particular concern because March is traditionally the busiest month of the year for residential property sales, and sales begin to decline from April onwards as the market starts heading towards winter.
This could signal a potentially huge overhang of unsold stock over winter.
Prices were mostly flat, with the national average asking price declining marginally from $884,995 in February to $882,303 in March (-0.3%). The Auckland market had a bigger decline, from $1,082,500 in February to $1,069,837 in March (-1.2%), meaning asking prices in Auckland ended March at their lowest point so far this year.
"Despite signs of growing economic confidence, it's yet to translate into upward price pressure and with the stock levels the way they are, we don't anticipate this changing in the short term," Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Williams said.
"With 36,780 properties on the market in March 2025, buyers were spoiled for choice," she said.
That reflected a shift in the market.
"Two years ago, many sellers hit pause, as high interest rates and election uncertainty made people cautious about listing," Williams said.
"That's clearly changed.
"There were 7586 more properties for sale last month than in the same month in 2023, showing how far we've come," she said.
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