The Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) released its August monthly property report last Thursday 12th September. Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ said: “Despite a good uplift in sales during July, August saw sales volumes fall by -6.1% from the same time last year – the lowest level of sales for 7 months. This was a bit of a surprise given the strength of July’s figures, however, an extremely wet August across most parts of the country and the past three months having the lowest number of new listings of any consecutive three months since records began in 2007 look to have been contributing factors.”
In Auckland, the number of properties sold in August decreased by -4.1% when compared to August 2018, (to 1,761 down from 1,837) the lowest in 4 months, but breaking this down showed volumes actually only fell in Auckland City (-14.0%), North Shore City (-13.0%) and Manukau City (-5.4%).
Norwell continued “Looking at the Auckland region, the median price fell by -3.5% to $820,000, down from $850,000 at the same time last year. This can partly be attributed to a fall in the number of million-dollar plus properties (from 34.8% to 31.7%). Median prices fell by -10.5% year-on-year in Manukau City to $770,000, the lowest price for the area for 19 months.“
The number of new listings in Auckland in August dropped by -14%, but there has been an increase in requests for appraisals, and in general the market is starting to pick up again. We expect there will be the usual increase in listings over the spring/summer period, which will provide more choice for buyers.