Big drop in houses for sale near Auckland

The number of houses on the market in Waikato, Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel is now less than a third of each region’s long-term average.

Realestate.co.nz calculates how long it would take for all the properties on the market to be sold at the average rate of sale.

Based on its calculations, in October, Waikato had 12 weeks of stock (versus 41 weeks average), Bay of Plenty had 12 weeks (49 weeks average) and the Coromandel had 43 weeks (171 weeks average).

Realestate.co.nz chief executive Brendon Skipper said the market pressure in these regions could be attributed to Aucklanders looking further afield for property.

“We have seen this generating a ripple effect in those regions, where residents of popular larger centres are looking to outlying areas.”

However, nationwide, the average inventory was only 16.1 weeks in October –  even lower than the record low of 16.3 weeks reached in September.

“Our data shows that we still have a strong sellers’ market throughout the country,” he said.

The realestate.co.nz data also shows that the coming of spring saw the traditional surge of new properties coming on to the market.

A total of 13,405 new properties were listed in October. This is 12% more than there were in September.

At the same time, average asking prices nationwide eased from the record highs of recent months.

Nationally, the average asking price of $539,823 in October was down from the record high of $568,215 in August.

The average asking price went down in eight regions, including all the main urban centres.

In Auckland, the average asking price dropped back to $832,713, from September’s record high of $851,531.

While Waikato’s average asking price fell to $397,991 in October, from a high of $403,640 in August.

Price increases were recorded in seven other regions, and remained static in four.

Skipper said it could be that the supply of properties was playing a part in the slight easing in asking prices.