More houses were for sale last month than in the same period over the past 15 years, data shows
More houses were for sale in December than there had been in that month in the last 15 years, according to new data.
realestate.co.nz said 2022 ended with seven New Zealand regions in buyers’ markets – Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Nelson Bays, and Otago.
The number of houses on the market rose year-on-year in all regions in December, with housing stock more than doubling in Coromandel (175.3%), Nelson Bays (147.2%), Taranaki (118.6%), and Central North Island (110.3%), RNZ reported.
Vanessa Williams, realestate.co.nz spokesperson, said national housing stock levels also lifted by 55.3% YoY, with changing interest rates and cost-of-living concerns contributing to the slowdown.
Williams said the national average asking price for houses trended downwards last year in response to rising inflation, interest rate hikes, and shifting lending rules.
“There have been a lot of external factors at play this year,” she said. “Not only have we seen significant economic activity within New Zealand and globally, but we have also been in recovery from the skyrocketing prices we saw during the peak of pandemic restrictions.”
Bucking the trend of falling house prices was Southland, which saw its average asking price hitting a record $547,269 in December for the first time since records began 15 years ago.
The record price, Williams said, may have been due to demand exceeding supply as new property listings in the region were about 39% lower than in the same month in 2021.
Nationally, the average asking price rose to $920,422 in December after slipping just below $900,000 in November.
Nearly all regions saw declines in the number of new listings in December compared to the same period in 2021, with only Taranaki and Coromandel seeing an increase in new listings in that period.
New listings were down by more than 20% nationally and in nine regions, RNZ reported.
“In other words, fewer people put their homes on the market in December 2022 than in December 2021,” Williams said. “There could be many reasons for this; the coming election, nervousness around prices or the fact that finance is more expensive than it was a year ago.”
Have a thought about this story? Include it in the comments below.
