Dearth of listings in Auckland: Report

Its NZ Property Report shows that inventory – the time it would take to sell all the properties on the market – has fallen to 26.6 weeks. The long-term national average is 38 weeks.

Asking prices have eased slightly.

The website’s marketing manager, Paul McKenzie, said demand for Auckland houses was driving the fall in listings.

In the country’s biggest city, there are only 13.9 weeks’ worth of properties for sale. That is 43% less than the same time last year.

Other record lows were seen in Otago and Waikato.

McKenzie said: “New listings are usually down at this far end of the year, but the 8482 brought to market in December represents a 37% drop from last month and a 3% drop from the same time last year. For this to happen at a time when demand is so high, is significant. Compared to the peak of the market in 2007, new listings are down 26%.”

He said the tight inventory would keep the market in sellers’ favour in most parts of the country. But the drop in asking prices to just 1% above the price recorded at the same last year – a seasonally adjusted $422,636 – should be some welcome news for buyers.

“Following the record high asking prices recorded over the previous two months, questions of housing affordability were naturally coming into the frame. However, buyer demand is still clearly strong, so seller confidence is likely to remain high for some time to come," McKenzie said.