Seller’s season arrives late in housing
After a difficult winter, prices around the country recover lost ground.
New Zealand’s real estate market had a late spring rebound, data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show.
There were 17.8 per cent more properties sold in November than in the month before, or a seasonally adjusted 4.5 per cent, the biggest month-on-month increase between October and November in six years.
The top of the North Island dragged that headline figure down. Excluding Auckland, where sales were down 16.7 per cent compared with 2016 and at the lowest level for any November since 2010, the bounce was 19.4 per cent.
Waikato and Bay of Plenty also had a subdued November.
Year-on-year, the number of houses sold nationally decreased by almost 9 per cent.
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said: ‘‘While there was a significant increase in properties sold, November traditionally sees a robust increase, although the change in November compared to last month was stronger than we would have expected based on past data. After a difficult winter and a slow start to spring, the real estate industry has experienced a lift in optimism and activity, with increases in the properties sold in
15 out of 16 regions across the country when compared to the previous month.’’
Nelson had the biggest monthon-month turnover increase, with
34.7 per cent more sales in November than October.
Canterbury, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay had the most properties sold in a November month in 10 years.
Fifteen of the 16 regions had record medians in the month.
Excluding Auckland, national house prices hit a median $450,000 in November, up 8.4 per cent over the year. Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu/Wanganui, Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury and Southland all had record median prices.
Auckland’s median price rose
3.8 per cent compared with October, to $880,000, recovering about
$50,000 over the past four months to return to a level virtually the same as this time last year.
‘‘With one of the wettest winters on record and the election, it has been a difficult few months for the industry. However, last month has provided the industry with a boost in optimism and confidence which has seen the market return to normal November conditions,’’ Norwell said.
ASB economist Kim Mundy expected activity and prices to be subdued in the coming year.
‘‘Activity remained soft in Auckland and Wellington, two cities likely to be most impacted by Labour’s investor-focused housing policies,’’ she said.
‘‘If price gains continue, we would expect them to be moderate in the near term, given the uncertainty around impacts of incoming housing policies.’’
The REINZ house price index for New Zealand increased 0.3 per cent month-on-month to reach an all-time high of 2663 during November, indicating that the ratio of sales prices when compared with CVs is at its highest point since the index began.
The same is true for New Zealand excluding Auckland, with a record high of 2476 (up 0.8 per cent on the previous month).
The median number of days to sell a property nationally increased by one day, to 33, or 35 seasonally adjusted, when compared with November 2016.
That measure indicates how long it would take to sell all existing stock, if no new properties were listed and sales continued at their current rate.
ANZ economists said that measure indicated market improvement. ‘‘That is the shortest period since April and is down from over 38 days only three months ago. It is well below the historical average of 39.6 days, but is still higher than the low of 30.8 days seen in mid-2016.’’
The number of properties sold by auction across New Zealand dropped 31.3 per cent on the same time last year.
In Auckland, 33 per cent of November sales were by auction, a drop of about a third compared with 2016.
The number of properties available for sale nationally increased by 7.6 per cent compared with 12 months ago, but much of that increase was in Auckland. Outside the biggest city, listings numbers were flat.
Between November 2016 and November 2017, the number of homes sold fell in every price bracket except $2 million to $2.99m, which rose 11.8 per cent.
"With one of the wettest winters on record and the election, it has been a difficult few months for the industry."
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell, left