There are many more buyers than sellers intending to be active in the New Zealand property market in the next 12 months. 

This was a major finding in research released today by realestate.co.nz, the country’s largest property listing site with the most residential listings for sale.

Commissioned by realestate.co.nz, the Horizon Research survey* examined buyer and seller intention to participate in the property market in the near future.

The research results show that 6.4 per cent of the adults 18 years or over surveyed are definitely looking to buy in the next 12 months, but only 2.8 per cent of people stated they are definitely looking to sell in that same period, says realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Taylor. 

This equates to a shortage of around 3.6 per cent of homes across the New Zealand marketplace, representing a significant number of properties currently not on the market, she says.

“Even taking into account new builds which are underway and not included in these numbers, there will be an increasingly serious shortage of properties for keen buyers.”

“Not surprisingly, the biggest pressure is evident in Auckland,” says Vanessa.

The research shows that in the Auckland Council (super city) catchment, those who said they were definitely looking to buy lifted to 9.5 per cent (from 6.9 per cent in November 2017). However, those who intended to sell fell from 4.3 per cent to 2.6 per cent in the same period.

“This represents a widening gap between definite buyers and definite sellers.

“In November the shortfall between definite buyers and definite sellers represented around 9,000 homes.

“With more buyers saying they want to get into the market, the shortfall in the number of homes that would be required to meet that stated demand has widened to around 32,700,” says Vanessa. 

Of the six local government areas identified in the Horizon Research survey, only Tauranga City had more sellers (3.9 per cent) than buyers (1.0 per cent) intending to be active in the next 12 months.

In Christchurch City there was a significant gap between buyer and seller intention, with 15.5 per cent definitely looking to buy in the next 12 months and 4.0 per cent definitely looking to sell. 

Current stability in national real estate market

The research from Horizon shows the buying and selling intentions of New Zealanders in the next 12 months. Real time statistics from realestate.co.nz show the current market nationally is relatively stable, says Vanessa Taylor.

New listings are slightly down compared to May 2017 (a 0.3 per cent decrease) and overall, total housing stock is marginally up one per cent (24,477) compared to May 2017.

The Auckland region pulled down the overall national number of new listings with a 4.4 per cent fall compared with the same period last year, but this was balanced by a lift in new listings in 13 of the 19 regions.

The average asking price for a New Zealand home is $648,218 representing a 0.4 per cent decrease on April 2018.

“It paints a picture of more choice and stable pricing in modest terms,” says Vanessa Taylor.

“We are entering the winter period and typically the market starts to go quiet, but people still buy and sell property. The winter months are typically slower with less volume than the summer months, which gives buyers and sellers more time to consider opportunities,” she says.

Asking price highs in five regions

While asking prices were relatively static nationally, all time average asking price highs were recorded in five regions in May.  

The Wairarapa region led the increases with an 8.6 per cent lift in asking prices ($483,181), followed by Gisborne (up 8.0 per cent to $389,117), Central North Island (up 6.7% to $472,273), Coromandel (up 5.7 per cent to $707,705) and Hawke’s Bay (up 5.1% to $507,037),

New listings increase in 13 of 19 regions – ski regions “hot”

The Auckland region dragged down the national new listing average with a 4.4 per cent drop compared with the same period last year. The total number of new listings in May stood at 3,528.

”Two of the three “hottest” new listing regions were skiing meccas”, says Vanessa Taylor.

Central North Island led the country with an 18.7 percent increase in new listings (146), followed by the Hawke’s Bay region (up 14.9 per cent to 332) and Central Otago/Lakes (up 11.1 per cent to 160).

“With the ski season looming it’s natural that sellers are looking to capitalise,” she says.

“Interestingly, while average asking prices were up 6.7 per cent in the Central North Island, they fell 4.4 per cent in Central Lakes/Otago.”

ENDS.

Note: realestate.co.nz data is collated on the penultimate day of the month.

*Horizon Research:  Results of April 2018 Online Property Media Monitor for realestate.co.nz.

1,345 members of the Horizon Research national panel which represents the New Zealand adult population.

     Glossary of terms:

As the only provider of real estate data in real time, realestate.co.nz offers valuable property market information not available from other sources.

• Average asking price gives an indication of current market sentiment. Statistically, asking prices tend to correlate closely with the sales prices recorded in future months when those properties are sold. As it looks at different data, average asking prices may differ from recorded sales data released at the same time.

• Inventory is a measure of how long it would take, theoretically, to sell the current stock

at current average rates of sale if no new properties were to be listed for sale. It provides a measure of the rate of turnover in the market.

• New listings are a record of all the new listings on realestate.co.nz for the relevant

calendar month. As realestate.co.nz reflects 97 per cent of all properties listed through registered

estate agents in New Zealand, this gives a representative view of the New Zealand property market.

• Demand: the increase or decrease in the number of views per listing in that region, taken over a rolling three-month time frame, compared to the same three-month time frame the previous year – including the current month.

• Seasonal adjustment is a method realestate.co.nz uses to better represent the core underlying trend of the property market in New Zealand. This is done using methodology from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

• Truncated mean is the method realestate.co.nz uses to provide statistically relevant asking prices.

The top and bottom 10 per cent of listings in each area are removed before the average is