Vendors lowering their price expectations on Trade Me Property as buyers have plenty of choice and properties take longer to sell

Asking prices continue to tumble on Trade Me Property as vendors bite the bullet in a soft housing market.

The average asking price of the properties available for sale on Trade Me Property in June was $829,650, down by $15,600 (-1.8%) compared to May.

That followed a 1.2% decline in the average asking price in May and 0.8% decline in April, marking the third consecutive month that asking prices on the website have declined, with the size of the declines increasing each month.

The average asking price is now $32,250 lower (-3.7%) than it was in March and is at its lowest point since September last year.

On an annual basis the national average asking price was down 1.4% compared to June last year, with the biggest annual falls occurring in West Coast -4.8%, Auckland -2.7% and Wellington -1.9% - see the chart below for the full regional figures.

The drop in asking prices coincides with high levels of stock for sale, with the number of residential properties available for sale on the website declining by 9% in June compared to May, but remaining up by 4% compared to May last year.

The number of properties for sale on Trade Me Property hit a decade high in March and there is usually a seasonal decline over winter.

"Seeing supply dip at this stage of the year isn't unexpected, but there remains plenty of choice in the market for those house hunting, with several thousand more properties listed on site than the same month last year," Trade Me Property Customer Director Gavin Lloyd said.

Properties also appear to be taking longer to sell, with the median number of days properties remained listed on the website increasing from 70 in May to 78 in June.

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