04-03-2013

Listings lag buyer demand: Realestate.co.nz

Landlords.co.nz

1. News
2. 2013
3. March

Listings are still not keeping up with demand in most regions of New Zealand, according to Realestate.co.nz’s report for February.

There were 13,145 new listings on the site in the month, down 2% on last year.

Only eight of the 19 regions surveyed showed any increase in the number of available listings on a year-on-year basis.

Of the 11 regions reporting year-on-year falls,  Gisborne reported the biggest fall. Listings there dropped by 24% compared to February 2012.

Supply and demand are most out of kilter in the biggest centres. Listings in Auckland were down 4.2% year on year in February, while sales in January rose 26.7% on last year.

And vendors who are putting their properties on the market want more for them.

Mean asking prices reached $43,743 nationwide, and two regions recorded new record highs. Wellington’s mean asking price rose to $453,220 and Central Otago’s to $642,251.

The inventory as measured in terms of equivalent weeks of sales fell in February to a new record low of 26.2 weeks, well below the long-term average of 39 weeks.

In total 13 regions reported asking price increases, with seven reporting rises of more than 5%.

The most significant rises were seen in Central Otago, Taranaki, and Coromandel.

Of the six regions that reported a drop in asking price, there was just one that reported a fall of more than 5% - Otago fell by 7.2% to $278,240.

Source: Landlords.co.nz