More houses listed, higher asking prices

More houses are being listed for sale in Nelson than this time last year, with average asking prices increasing.

The days of dramatic highs and lows appear behind us, with steady activity defining New Zealand’s property market for more than two years.

New Zealand’s May Property Report from realestate.co.nz shows six of the 19 regions have seen increases in their average asking price both month-on-month and year-on-year.

The national average asking price remained steady during May, up a marginal 0.8% year-on-year and up 1.4% month-on-month. However, one standout was Southland, which recorded an all-time high since records began 18 years ago — up 6.5% year-on-year to $564,291. Average asking prices also increased year-on-year in Northland (up 3.6% to $850,725), Hawke’s Bay (up 3.2% to $787,761), Nelson & Bays (up 2.0% to $856,958) and Central North Island (up 1.2% to $782,120).

Nine regions reported a year-on-year decline, notably West Coast (down 9.8% to $494,855), Gisborne (down 6.3% to $634,604) and Central Otago/Lakes District (down 6.0% to $1,382,741).

“We’ve had over two years of price stability and there’s no sign of real change just yet,” said realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood. “Where does this put us in the property cycle? It’s hard to tell as immigration isn’t supporting a growing market at present, so we continue to remain in a holding pattern, waiting for either demand to rise or economic indicators to shift before we see meaningful movement.”

New listings were up nationally by 2.9% year-on-year, following seasonally expected trends. Year-on-year, 13 of the 19 regions saw an increase in new listings. Topping the chart was the West Coast with an increase of 30.4% year-on-year, followed closely by Central Otago/Lakes at 29.3% and Central North Island at 26.5%.

Some of the country’s sunniest regions also saw year-on-year increases in new listings: Gisborne (up 23.3%), Nelson & Bays (up 15.1%), and Bay of Plenty (up 9.2%).

“The next few months will certainly be interesting off the back of last week’s OCR drop, the traditional quieter winter period, and the deadline for Healthy Homes,” Sarah says.