Huge Month for Harcourts Expected August Trends

Huge Month for Harcourts Bucks Expected August Trends

With a huge $200 million more in written sales in August 2005 compared to August 2004 for Harcourts, “the traditional trends in the real estate marketplace and the drivers of these trends have altered forever”, according to Harcourts New Zealand CEO Bryan Thomson in the latest issue of Harcourts’ MarketWatch newsletter.

Mr Thomson went on to say that, a ‘normal’ August would see the first flush of Spring listings coming to the market in warmer Northern locations with a slight lag for Southerners waiting for gardens to reach their Spring best before marketing their properties.

“Add to that a looming election and in the past we would have predicted that August would be a hesitant month as buyers and sellers waited for some certainty from central Government regarding monetary policy, interest rates and property.”

However Harcourts experienced the complete opposite this August. Mr Thomson said, “Buyers have been highly active and prices achieved especially in ‘blue chip’ areas, have been very positive.” He added that the employment market remained strong and interest rates were attractive.

Assessing the seeming lack of effect the recent elections had on August property activity, Mr Thomson concluded, “these days people are more likely to take positive steps to achieve their goals rather than wait and worry about the actions of others that may or may not affect their decisions.” …ends

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