No doubt it's a sellers’ market: Realestate.co.nz

Realestate.co.nz statistics show the scarcity of houses for sale nationally has created a sellers’ market

The market is heavily favouring sellers, new statistics show, with the average asking price for a New Zealand house at an all-time high and the number of houses for sale at an all-time low for May.

Real-time market statistics released today by Realestate.co.nz show the May national average asking price reached $570,971, up 7.2 per cent from the same time the previous year.  
 
On the supply side in May, the number of new properties that came onto the market nationally dropped 7.1% from the previous month and the long term average has also fallen. 

“In this environment, if no new listings were to come onto the market nationally and all the existing properties sold, theoretically there would be no properties for sale in New Zealand within 12 weeks,” says Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Taylor.

“It’s a classic supply and demand situation and right now it’s definitely a sellers’ market,” she says. 

Real estate activity has increased across both the North and South Islands, with the Central Otago/Lakes region and Nelson in the South Island notable stand-outs, the results show. 

In May, the Central Otago/Lakes topped New Zealand in terms of percentage average asking price at 17.2 per cent, the region also recorded the largest drop in new property listings down 32.9 per cent, both compared with the same time last year.  
 
The average asking price for Central Otago/Lakes region for May hit $819,778.

Traffic data reveals a sharp increase in users residing in the neighbouring Otago region viewing property in Central Otago/Lakes, with engagement up by 75.98 per cent on the same time last year. 

“Waikato also has an interesting profile,” says Vanessa Taylor. “Asking prices are up a healthy 6.1 per cent on the previous month, coming closely behind Nelson and Central Otago/Lakes in terms of percentage increases across the country,” she says.

“At the same time new listings remain relatively static in the Waikato region.

“We could be tempted to make an assumption that Aucklanders are looking further south to the Waikato. However data shows us that we have seen a strong (75.35 per cent) increase in users from the Bay of Plenty looking at the region. In saying that, the strongest interest is actually coming from users who already reside within the Waikato region,” she says.

“Drilling further down into the data, the hot spots in the Waikato region that are most searched are Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Morrinsville. Surprisingly, data suggests that Melville could be an up and comer with a 217.59% per cent increase in online engagement.” 

The average asking price in the Waikato is $467,717 compared to Auckland where it stands at $879,730.