David Clark, Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, has asked for an investigation into new regulations regarding home loans. This is because banks are not adhering to the guidelines as well as being too strict. The average asking price also fell in Waikato and the central North Island. Williams stated that although it is too early for this trend to be called a trend, vendors may be asking less for their properties February than January. This could indicate a market slowdown. Whether you’re buying, selling or something in between, we’ve got all the ins and outs on New Zealand property here in our blog.
They should increase it for investors, but I believe they should lower the deposit requirements of first-time buyers to 5% to 2%. As the LVR speed limits are imposed by the Reserve Bank, investors will continue to be a major player in the housing market. He said, “Supply has also risen over the past months creating less competition for buyers.” The region’s three-monthly home value growth rate has dropped from 3.2% last year to 2.3% this month. The greatest gains were again seen in Upper Hutt (6.8%), and Porirua (4.3%). Read more about Denise Ray White here. These are the only two Wellington districts that saw more home value growth during this three-month period than last.
In my last column a fortnight ago I noted that a buyer’s market is now locked into place around most parts of New Zealand. We received confirmation from REINZ’s monthly data releases this week that the same thing had happened. The expectation held by most of us is that average prices will fall about 10%. It is important to remember something very important before getting too fixated on the number.
“We typically see a new listings after summer, but with new listing lower than last year’s, the uncertainty around things such as Omicron or inflation might be encouraging Kiwis stay put rather than listing their home for rent,” says Vanessa. “This is partly why the region tipped into a buyers’ market last month,” says Vanessa.
The figures are reflective of the usual slowing down of sales over the holiday period, but also magnified by headwinds such as LVRs, the CCCFA and interest rates impacting the number of active buyers in the market, says Baird. In terms of the January month, it was the lowest sales count since records began in 1992 for Nelson, Otago, Taranaki and Manawatu/Whanganui, and the lowest for Tasman since 2000. Property sales across the country dropped dramatically in January, down to 3,665 houses changing hands compared to 5,135 sales in January last year, the latest REINZ data shows.
As the longest-standing provider of real estate data in real-time, realestate.co.nz offers valuable property market information not available from other sources to make it easier for New Zealanders to buy and sell property. Following on from the hint of a cooling market in February 2022, six regions saw their prices drop while another seven saw them remain static compared to the previous month. Realestate.co.nz inventory data shows that Wellington has a buyers’ market in March 2022. The inventory measure theoretically the time it would take to sell all stock at the current sale rate if there were no new listings. While the property market might be embracing a slowdown in prices, it is to be understood at what cost the same has been achieved.
Gordon stated that prices were falling in most regions, except Otago. Auckland sales also fell by 41 per cent from 4013 in March 2021 to 2367 last month. Nationally, 6752 houses were sold last month. This is a 34% drop from the 10,151 homes that were sold in March 2021.
Michael Gordon, Westpac’s chief economist, said that house prices are “falling faster” than we and the Reserve Bank thought. Baird stated that the flatter market will likely cause more fluctuations in house prices across regions. He said three decades of policymakers had let the economy become too dependent on house price growth. Small-time developers or builders trying to make a buck will most likely be the ones left in the lurch as house prices look to be cooling.
The total stock levels increased by 32.0% year-over-year in March, both nationally and in most regions. This is a telling sign there are more properties on the market for buyers to pursue. Due to historically low interest rates, and a lack of supply, house prices have risen. In response to the COVID-19 crises, the Reserve Bank lowered interest rates to encourage lending and keep economy stimulated. This led to an increase in house prices. The HPI dropped 1.5% at the beginning of this year. Annual house price growth slowed further, to just below 20%. This is a decrease from the record high of 30.6% in August.