The housing market shifted down a cog from top gear in February to neutral in March, according to property website Realestate.co.nz.
"Sellers have put their foot on the brakes," Realestate.co.nz said in its March report.
"After gaining momentum in February, the property market sat idle in March," it said.
The website received 12,055 new listings in March. That's down slightly (-1.6%) from the 12,252 it received in February, and also also barely changed (+0.2%) from the 12,029 new listings it received in March last year.
Yet despite new listings remaining flat in March, the total number of properties available for sale on the website was at its highest level in 11 years.
Realestate.co.nz had 37,638 residential properties available for sale at the end of March, up 3.5% compared to the end of February. That means the total amount of stock available for sale on the website is at its highest level since March 2015.
This suggests the so-called buyer's market has remained firmly in place throughout the summer sales period, with February and March traditionally being the busiest months of the year for residential real estate.
Vendors may be starting to feel the sting of the buyer's whip, with the average asking price on Realestate.co.nz dropping to $887,162 in March from $898,677 in February, a decline of $11,515 for the month.
The biggest decline in average asking price for the month was in the Central North Island, including Taupo, where the average asking price declined by $82,078 for the month, followed by Bay of Plenty down $64,863 and Southland down $54,991.
The only regions where average asking prices increased in March from February were Northland, Coromandel, Hawke's Bay, West Coast and Central Otago/Lakes.
However, while vendors may be finding conditions more challenging, the current market could provide opportunities for buyers.
"We may have seen sellers hit pause on listings last month, but for buyers searching for the perfect property it is still a good time to be looking, with lots of options on the market," Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Williams said.
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29 Comments
So, new listings were pretty flat, but total stock still went up, which usually just means places aint selling as quickly.
Doesnt look like a rush of new sellers, more like buyers taking their time. Still seems like theyve got the upper hand tho
The cognitive dissonance drips from every keystroke. Are you okay?
Wheres the dissonance? Listings are flat but stocks rising, that usually just means properties are sitting longer
You need to learn how interest appraises the property market.
- Flat market = the bubble has burst
- Values down 1% = it's in free fall
- You need to spell every second or third word in CAPITALS.
- Bonus points for saying something like "houses are for living in, not investing"
Stray outside these simple guard rails, you'll quickly get unstuck
Ha, pretty much. Anything short of ‘collapse underway’ seems to confuse people these days
Welly houee market has far surpassed freefall.......its gone supersonic, subterranian, bunkerbusting rocket!
Obliterated. 😁
Yes, and if you add the words like "specuvestor" and "bag holder" you will earn extra praise.
Just as people were ridiculed as 'doom gloom merchants' for any negative housing views during the boom years.
The name calling happened on both sides of the fence.
Yes, and if you add the words like "specuvestor" and "bag holder" you will earn extra praise.
"Specu-punter" is my creation. "Bag holder" might apply to Allbirds, My Food Bag, and many, many cryptos, but not sure it's entirely appropriate for the Ponzi. It could apply to off‑plan buyers and FOMO punters motivated by the media and the property seminar promoters.
Investors calc yield on investment. Speccuvestor is just waiting for capital gain tax free flipping. Easy in a rising market.
In today's market...how does capital loss sound...?
You need to learn how most of society has appraised the property market.
- flat market = green shoots will be here tomorrow
- values up 1% = best time to buy property was yesterday
- You need to use fancy sayings like savvy investor, portfolios and capital gains in every sentence.
- Bonus points for saying something like "don't listen to the doom gloom merchants, they are just envious of your wealth and success"
Stay outside these simple guard rails, you'll quickly be out of the property investors association.
(I can play this game as well...!)
You seem to have misinterpreted what you might of heard from a few property bulls as being representative of all of society.
I suspect everything lost momentum in March.
My local fish and chip shop was empty on Friday night.
It's interesting the way the real estate vested interests try to pump up the market when blind Freddy has been reading the writing on the wall for months. When the actual figures appear, the vested interests fein mild shock that their over hyped expectations were not quite realized. They then spin the poor numbers with weasel words.
The NZ housing market is correcting which in non PC language, it is collapsing. The market needs to fall about 30% in order fot it to be a comparatively normal market relative to our low wages. As it is, NZ has the most expensive houses per income in the world, which is a testament to the renowned kiwi greed and skill at the gouge. The chooks have come home to roost not before time and that is a very good thing going forward for the country.
As it is, NZ has the most expensive houses per income in the world
Sorry Bruce but that statement is pure misinformation (or disinformation). NZ is around the middle of the pack when it comes to house price to income ratio.
Please check your numbers before making such claims.
Yes we are below the OECD average, underpriced you could argue:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/237529/price-to-income-ratio-of-hou…
EDIT: the above is indexed at 2015. This is a better one, many countries above us: https://www.numbeo.com/property-investment/rankings_by_country.jsp
Nigeria at 93.7x income!
Facts don't matter Hamish, Bruce's post got double digit thumbs up even though it is wrong. It goes to show what the "cheering the house price crash" team know, not much at all. But hey, emotions matter more than reason, a sure way to make bad financial decisions.
10th highest out of 189 countries, so top 5.3%. Yeah our economy justifies that. Its you telling porkies.
Jeez, threads gone from ‘listings flat, stock rising’ to global affordability rankings pretty quickly - thats quite an upgrade. The data here still just looks like properties are taking longer to sell
It's interesting the way the real estate vested interests try to pump up the market when blind Freddy has been reading the writing on the wall for months. When the actual figures appear, the vested interests fein mild shock that their over hyped expectations were not quite realized. They then spin the poor numbers with weasel words.
The NZ housing market is correcting which in non PC language, it is collapsing. The market needs to fall about 30% in order fot it to be a comparatively normal market relative to our low wages. As it is, NZ has the most expensive houses per income in the world, which is a testament to the renowned kiwi greed and skill at the gouge. The chooks have come home to roost not before time and that is a very good thing going forward for the country.
I'm glad we've moved on from the FOOP and FOMO nonsense
FONGO (fear of not getting out)
Given that Google search interest for phrases like “can’t sell house” and “can’t sell my house” in the U.S. has recently hit an all‑time high on Google Trends, exceeding both the 2008 housing crisis and the 2020 COVID lockdown period, this supports FONGO [https://www.barchart.com/story/news/845852/worse-than-2008-google-searc…].
You can say that "Aotearoa is diffrunt" but I can assure you that the behaviors and fears are not.
FOOP Fear of Overpaying is a current reality as vendors and agents assume overmarket prices still possible, but aren't, especially as the cost of money has increased sharply recently
Plus cash buyers out there are as rare as hens teeth
Daylight savings almost gone, rain and muddy Auckland, a war, falling kiwisaver balances , fuel and cost of living going up
Not conductive to FOMO
Vendors tied up in FONGO knots and FOOPING their pants, that the 2015 prices, will soon great their Greeeeedy price expectations in 2027 snd 2028.
Aĺl looking really positive!
Underneath all the FOMO/FONGO/FOOP its still just listings flat and stock rising, i.e. places taking longer to sell. Guess that doesnt have the same ring to it tho
The Death of the First-Time Home Buyer || Peter Zeihan
Funny thing is first home buyers are still about 25–30% of purchases at the moment, so they aint exactly disappearing.
Guess that doesnt fit the storyline tho...
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