Owners listing their homes for highest-ever prices in eight regions

Sunday, 1 December 2019

Ambitious property-owners are asking all-time high prices for their homes in many parts of the country.

The number of homes on the market was lower than this time last year, but data from realestate.co.nz showed the highest asking prices since records began 13 years ago in eight regions.

Asking prices were at record highs in November in Northland, Waikato, Central North Island, Manawatu-Wanganui, Nelson and Bays, Central Otago, Bay of Plenty and Canterbury, said Vanessa Taylor, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz.

'The highs and the current low stock levels suggest that Kiwis are waiting to get through the busy Christmas and New Year period before thinking of selling in 2020,' Taylor said.

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Asking prices in Auckland in November were down 2.2 per cent compared to asking prices in September, Taylor said.

Auckland's average asking price dropped back to $915,794 compared to $936,850 in September.

'Following sharp drops in April and May which saw the average asking price dip below $900,000, the region has seen prices hover around the low 900s for most of this year,' Taylor said.

Many Aucklanders were looking at buying properties in the regions.

'Real-time data from realestate.co.nz site users show that many of those looking at property in regional New Zealand are based in Auckland,' said Taylor.

'Northland, Bay of Plenty and the Central North Island appear to be crowd favourites for Aucklanders, with more Aucklanders searching online for property in those regions than those already living there.'

But Aucklanders were not looking too far from their own doorsteps.

In Manawatu-Wanganui, Canterbury and Otago, the majority of property seekers were based in those regions themselves, Taylor said.

'It looks like a number of Aucklanders are still looking for property outside of the city. This could suggest Aucklanders are looking for a permanent lifestyle change or are seeking holiday homes in the North Island this summer,' she said.

Asking prices were marginally down in Wellington, Wairarapa and Southland compared to September.

Taylor said that nationally in November there were 19.4 per cent fewer homes for sale compared to the same month last year, and this could be contributing to high asking prices. 

'When there are fewer homes available for sale, there is usually increased competition between home buyers,' she said.

'People are often willing to pay a little bit more to make sure they get what they want.' 

Taranaki had only 379 places available for sale in November.

'Nationally new listings were down 7.6 per cent suggesting that Kiwis were generally holding off on putting their homes on the market during November,' she said.

'This was a trend reflected in our major centres with Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury dropping 7 per cent, 5.9 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively compared to November 2018.'

People who were looking to buy over the summer break may need to do a bit of digging and be patient with the small number of homes on the market at the moment, she said.

'It will be very interesting to see what happens over December and into early 2020.'

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