Auckland housing stock rise is good news for buyers

New data has revealed a jump in Auckland's housing stock alongside subdued demand, boosting choice and affordability for home buyers

Auckland housing stock rise is good news for buyers
Real time data from realestate.co.nz shows that home prices increased 0.9% in May compared to April to an average $962,196 but realestate.co.nz says that prices have not increased more than 1% in any month so far this year, indicating stability in prices.

The increase in housing stock of 50.8% compared to May 2016, while demand slipped 28.7% is good news for home buyers who are benefitting from a wider choice of properties as well as relatively flat prices.

Auckland is not the only region to see these conditions though.

Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Wellington and Canterbury have all seen more housing stock, the first time that an area outside Auckland has increased since October 2015. The increases further add to buyers’ options.

“In 2016 we saw more Aucklanders turning to the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions as an alternative to high house prices and fierce competition,” said realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Taylor. 

“They were the first two regions to see a southern drift away from the city. Whether this drift continues will be interesting to watch, as we are seeing similar signs of total housing stock climbing in both Waikato and the Bay of Plenty,” she added.

As with Auckland, the areas with increased housing stock are also those with the largest slowing of demand. 

Demand in past first three months compared to the same period in 2016 was down 14.1% in Wellington, 13.3% in The Waikato region and 8.7% in the Bay of Plenty.

These three areas along with Auckland are in the bottom 5 areas for demand in New Zealand’s 19 regions. The fifth is Canterbury which bucks the trend by seeing higher housing stock while demand did not decrease.