Speed of sales quickens

The house-buying frenzy showed no let up last month with properties spending less than a month on the market in many parts of the country. Trade Me’s monthly property data suggests that the average day for a home to sell nationally is 27 days, compared to the 36 days it took inmarch last year. The fastest selling centrewas Wellington city, where propertieswere on the market for just 20 days on average, followed by Christchurch at 24 days. Trade Me Property sales director Gavin Lloyd said every region apart from Gisborne sawhouses sell faster in March than they were a year ago. ‘‘This shows howmuch the New Zealand property landscape has changed in the last year,’’ he said. Demandwas high, with the number ofwebsite views on properties for sale up 26 per cent in just a month. In February the Reserve Bank announced it was tightening the loan to value ratio lending restrictions for property investors, followed by tax changes for investment property lastmonth.