Houses for sale listings cut in half

The number of homes for sale has slumped by almost 50 per cent in the past decade, with asking prices doing the exact opposite, rising by almost 50 per cent.

Figures from realestate.co.nz show the number of properties on sale in New Zealand this October slumped to 24,307 from 47,958 in October 2007.

Meanwhile the number of homes listed for sale on the site, which hosts listings from many of the country’s largest agencies, show asking prices have done the reverse, increasing by almost 50 per cent from $415,000 to $620,000.

Spokeswoman Vanessa Taylor said the impact of the global financial crisis, a drop in new builds and population growth meant the property market had struggled to recover.

“In October 2007 we were months away from entering the period of the global financial crisis,” Taylor said.

“. . . It was a period when lending was tight, house values dropped and new housing construction fell dramatically.”

She said the impact of this had been seen more strongly in recent years.

Realestate.co.nz figures show that in October 2014 the number of properties for sale sat at 39,917, compared with 24,307 in October this year, almost a 40 per cent fall in just three years.

Meanwhile the realestate.co.nz new listings were also dropping, with 988 fewer (down 8.4 per cent) listed across the country this October compared with the same month last year. In October 2016 there were some 11,766 new listings, compared with only 10,778 this year.

Taylor said this wasn’t a surprise, with both winter and the election period likely to have contributed to the drop in listings.

Taylor said sales in the nation’s biggest city, Auckland, were slower in comparison with other parts of the country.

The new Labour-led Government has proposed its $2 billion KiwiBuild scheme would build 100,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years — half of which would be in Auckland.