New Zealand's largest real estate agency says it had a significant fall in sales and new listings last month, with prices dropping in Auckland and Christchurch.
Harcourts said its provisional sales figures for August showed that the average selling price of homes it sold in the Auckland/Northland region was $656,198, down $9,038, or 1.4%, from $665,236 in July.
However the August price was still up 8% on the average price in August last year. Harcourts didn' t supply median prices or Auckland sales volumes.
In Christchurch the average selling price of $488,734 was up 14% compared with August last year, but down compared with $491,688 in July and the record $529,092 achieved in June.
The number of sales also slid sharply in Christchurch where Harcourts is the dominant player in the market, with the the agency selling just 330 dwellings compared with 411 in July.
Harcourts blamed red tape which hindered new developments as the main cause for the lack of sales.
"Despite recently announced housing policies, the root problem of red tape surrounding development has not been addressed," it said in a statement.
"Housing developers will remain reluctant until fees and building costs are reduced and the government expedites the consent process."
However it was hoping to see a pickup in activity next month.
"We expect to see a correction next month after the election and as the weather gets warmer, it said.
Harcourts will release its full sales results for the whole country next week.
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3 Comments
... do Harcourts entirely discount the Cunliffe effect , if elected , he'll bring in a CGT ....
And then it'll be a matter of who blinks first , and panic sells their investment property to avoid the 15 % tax .... alike lemmings over the proverbial cliff , it'll be a Hickeysterical sized " correction " ....
... 'ole Gummy will be at the bottom of the cliff with a fruit juice and bandages booth , offering lemming aid ... ...
Midwinter sales are always down , and the election is probably impacting too .
Worth bearing in mind that as long as we have the immigration spigot open on full tilt with a net gain of almost a thousand people a week , we will see demand for houses exceed supply.
Prices can only go up without supply being sorted , and that takes years
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