Listings lag buyer demand: Realestate.co.nz

There were 13,145 new listings on the site in the month, down 2% on last year.

Only eight of the 19 regions surveyed showed any increase in the number of available listings on a year-on-year basis.

Of the 11 regions reporting year-on-year falls,  Gisborne reported the biggest fall. Listings there dropped by 24% compared to February 2012.

Supply and demand are most out of kilter in the biggest centres. Listings in Auckland were down 4.2% year on year in February, while sales in January rose 26.7% on last year.

And vendors who are putting their properties on the market want more for them.

Mean asking prices reached $43,743 nationwide, and two regions recorded new record highs. Wellington’s mean asking price rose to $453,220 and Central Otago’s to $642,251.

The inventory as measured in terms of equivalent weeks of sales fell in February to a new record low of 26.2 weeks, well below the long-term average of 39 weeks.

In total 13 regions reported asking price increases, with seven reporting rises of more than 5%.

The most significant rises were seen in Central Otago, Taranaki, and Coromandel.

Of the six regions that reported a drop in asking price, there was just one that reported a fall of more than 5% - Otago fell by 7.2% to $278,240.