New property listings rise as market reaches equil

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New property listings rise as market reaches equilibrium

Vendors put their trust back into the market

AUCKLAND, 1 August 2009 – A surge in new listings in July on property portal Realestate.co.nz (http://www.realestate.co.nz/) indicates an early arrival of spring fever for the New Zealand housing market, possibly heralding an end to two years of uncertainty. The number of new listings coming onto the market increased markedly for the month of July, up 13% on June, and a significant 28% on July last year.

The complete listing statistics and trends for July were released today in the NZ Property Report (http://www.realestate.co.nz/blog), a monthly survey of market activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz, the country’s most comprehensive property listing website with more than 100,000 listings at any one time.

Alistair Helm, CEO of Realestate.co.nz, says that July is traditionally the quietest month for the housing market, but it seems a sense of confidence has returned with vendors reacting accordingly. “We’re seeing a significant uplift on April, May and June when listings were down. Currently, interest rates are still low and the media is rife with confidence that the recession is at a tipping point – the market is reacting accordingly”, says Mr Helm.

“New listings rather than sales (i.e. when property arrives on the market, not when it leaves) are the earliest indicator for future trends on the property market.”

“As a result of this current increase in listings, we can state that the market has now reached a point of equilibrium, good for both buyers and sellers. Volume is steady, activity is good, confidence is rising, and prices are not falling to the extent that the naysayers were predicting 12 months ago,” says Mr Helm.

The full NZ Property Report can be found on Realestate.co.nz’s Unconditional blog at: www.realestate.co.nz/blog.

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 100,000 properties at any one time, representing over 90% of all listings currently marketed by real estate professionals.

ENDS

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