Fewer new property listings in January than December - first time in 4 years - reinforces sluggish market

Vendors’ asking price continues to fall, but buyers biding time as inventory of unsold houses soars

AUCKLAND, 1 February 2010 – For the first time in four years the number of new properties listed for sale in January was less than that of December, confirming the sluggish state of the New Zealand property market. The figures were released today in the NZ Property Report, a monthly report of market activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz, the country’s most comprehensive property listing website. The latest issue, covering January, is published on www.unconditional.co.nz, the news and information website for New Zealand real estate.

Alistair Helm, CEO of Realestate.co.nz says, “January saw just 10,272 new listings coming onto the market, down from 10,349 in December. Even though the start of the new year traditionally shows a strong lift in listings to take advantage of increased summer activity, for the first time in four years the January figure has been lower than December.”

In addition, the national asking price in January fell to $405,040, a 1.8% drop from December’s figure of $412,319, and a further slide of 3.5% from November’s $419,586. The January figure remains 5.6% below the market peak of October 2007 when the asking price reached $429,033.

However, while some vendors may be lowering their price expectations to expedite the sales process, buyers appear to be biding their time in the expectation that prices will fall further in an increasingly crowded market.

Alistair Helm continues, “The level of sales remains static, showing no significant improvement. As a result, the inventory level of unsold houses has shot up significantly, as measured by the number of weeks of sales necessary to clear properties on the market. In December, the inventory level was 34.3 weeks, but this jumped to 40.1 weeks in January, the highest since April last year.”

“All three key indices from the January statistics, i.e. asking price, new listings and inventory level, show an absence of expected seasonal swings. This lack of typical seasonality underscores the state of dormancy within New Zealand property, and further highlights the fact that it continues to be a buyers’ market,” he says.

Go to www.unconditional.co.nz for the full NZ Property Report.

About Realestate.co.nz
Realestate.co.nz is the official website of the New Zealand real estate industry, and provides the most comprehensive selection of listings across all categories of real estate. Realestate.co.nz lists over 110,000 properties at any one time, representing over 94% of all listings currently marketed by real estate professionals.

ENDS