The housing market appears to be at risk of remaining a buyer’s market over summer, with new listings and stock levels rising strongly while asking prices declined overall in November.
Property website Realestate.co.nz received 12,339 new residential listings in November, which was up 10.9% compared to November last year and was also the highest number received in the month of November since the peak of the last boom in November 2021.
That helped push the total stock of residential properties listed for sale on the website to 35,345 at the end of November, up 4.0% compared to a year earlier.
That means the number of residential properties available for sale on Realestate.co.nz is at its highest levels for the time of year since 2014.
However, asking prices headed in the opposite direction last month, with the average asking price on the website declining from $904,212 in October to $881,105 in November, a decline of $23,107 (-2.6%) for the month – (note: these figures are not seasonally adjusted).
There were particularly large declines in average asking prices for the month in the upper North Island districts of Northland -$27,789, Coromandel -$144,286, Waikato -$27,745, Bay of Plenty -$52,947, Central North Island (mainly Taupo) -$45,913, Hawke’s Bay -$72,866 and also in the Central Otago/Lakes District -$238,239.
Realestate.co.nz’s latest report described the market as “wide open for buyers.”
“Buyers appear to be holding back, waiting to see what happens next,” it said.
“We know New Zealanders struggle with uncertainty and, after what has been a tough couple of years for many, buyers seem to be waiting for a perfect moment [to buy], that frankly, may never arrive,” Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Williams said.
