Tight supply, rising prices

The real estate website’s October data not only has new listings nationwide down by 17.1% from October 2018 but the total number of houses for sale nationally also down by 13.1% year-on-year.

Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Taylor says that new listings and the total number of houses for sale around the country both decreased significantly compared to the same time last year.

In Auckland, new listings were down almost 20% with only 3,566 new properties coming onto the market during October.

In Wellington they were down by 8.4% to 757 listings and in Canterbury they were down by 21.6% to 1,393 listings.

The total number of houses available for sale followed a similar decreasing trend.

In Auckland, total listings were down 14.5% to 8,470, in Wellington they were down 11.4% to 988 and in Canterbury they were down by 15.9% to 3,306, as compared to the same time last year.

Taylor says the only exception to buck the trend this month was the Central Otago/Lakes region, where the total number of houses for sale was up by 9.6% to 628 houses from October 2018.

“When the number of new listings declines but the total number of homes available increases, it can suggest that homes are staying on the market for a bit longer than usual.”

Alongside the reduction in housing stock on the market, many regions around the country saw increases in their average asking prices with five hitting all-time asking price highs.

Those regions were the Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Nelson & Bays, Wairarapa and the Central North Island. Of the five, three saw only marginal increases of less than 2%.

But Wairarapa had a hefty 15.4% increase in average asking price, which left it at $571,621 in October.

Taylor says that the low stock levels could be contributing to the rise in asking prices with the total number of homes for sale down by 23.5% to 225 houses, as compared to October 2018.

“Supply and demand is likely having an impact here. As we know, an increase in demand and a decrease in supply tends to drive higher property prices.”

It was a similar story in the Bay of Plenty region, which saw its average asking price rise above $700,000 (to $700,420) for the first time.

But, again, the total number of houses available for sale in the sought-after region was down by 11.7% to just 1,401.

Meanwhile, the national average asking price was up to $687,159 in October, from $676,100 in October last year.

REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell says that with many parts of the country seeing record asking prices and record median selling prices, it’s surprising listings remain at such a low point considering it’s well into spring.

“This means that prices are likely to continue to rise across many parts of the country until we see more supply in the market.”