Hamilton housing market - a boom start to 2013

MEDIA RELEASE
13 February 2013

Hamilton housing market - a boom start to 2013

• Hamilton market sales were 180 homes in Jan 2013; compared with 190 in Dec 2012 and 131 in January 2012
• Hamilton city median house price for Jan 2013 was $320,000; down on $329,000 in Jan 2012
• Median time to sell a Hamilton home in January was 41 days; compared with 34 days in December 2012 and 45 in January 2012

Hamilton, New Zealand – The number of homes sold within Hamilton city during January 2013 was 180, as reported by the Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) today.

This month’s sales compared to 190 homes sold in the city during December 2012 and 131 one year ago during January 2012.

Jeremy O’Rourke, Managing Director of Lodge Real Estate in Hamilton, the city’s largest real estate agency by volume, says, “Normally, January sales in any given year are around 50-65% of the previous December sales. This January was 95% of December 2012 sales, with volumes up significantly on January 2012.

“Overall, total house sales for January are reflecting the recovery the city market is going through. It is just a bit slower than previous months due to low numbers of homes being listed on the market.”

The suburbs of Hillcrest and Hamilton East experienced higher than usual sales activity.

“Normally sales in these two suburbs represent around 8% and 6% of the city’s total sales, respectively. This month, sales in those sections of the city were higher at 10% in Hillcrest and 8% in Hamilton East.

“These two areas are traditionally strong markets for first home buyers and investors – both of which are quite active in the market at the moment,” explains Jeremy.

Conversely, Mr O’Rourke said sales in the northern suburb of Rototuna were down, representing just 12% of the city’s sales in January. Rototuna house sales usually represent around 16% of the city’s total sales in any given month.

“The dip in Rototuna sales is primarily due to the lack of availability of homes for sale in this suburb. It didn’t take long for buyers to snap up quality homes in Rototuna during January as there weren’t many listed over the month.”

Mr O’Rourke said there was also a lack of availability of houses being listed in the central city, which resulted in lower than normal sales in that suburb as well.

The lack of quality stock on the market led to more homes being sold at the lower end of the price range throughout Hamilton. This was the key factor leading to a dip in the median house price for Hamilton city, which was $320,000 for January. This compares to $337,500 in December 2012 and $329,000 in January 2012.

Mr O’Rourke said there is keen interest right through the Hamilton market. “At the start of February, we’ve already seen more stock coming onto the market.

“Our team is performing a lot more appraisals than we have in the past several months. Plus, there are more buyers in the market now that people are back from holiday and settled into normal routines. So, we expect the market to pick up and to see even stronger sales within the next three to four months.”

-ENDS-

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