Housing market strengthening: Westpac

Michael Gordon said today’s statistics from Barfoot and Thompson showed that supply in Auckland in particular had tightened further. New listings have failed to match the upturn in sales over the past six months.

“As a result, the total number of listings is now equivalent to just 3.5 months' worth of sales, down from 3.7 months in October. This is the lowest ratio since December 2003.”

Barfoot and Thompson’s statistics showed a 6.3% seasonally-adjusted fall in sales in November, after a 15% jump in October.

He said low mortgage rates were clearly boosting the market.

“With the RBNZ now obliged to monitor asset prices under its new Policy Targets Agreement, we suspect the RBNZ will have little enthusiasm for OCR cuts.”