In July 2009 Harcourts New Zealand’s sales statistics continued to be very much in line with the previous few months, however our listing statistics have moved to a new level.
Last month in Harcourts’ five regions there was an average of 35.2% more written sales than in July 2008, ranging from a 68% lift in our Central region to an 8% increase in our South Island Provincial Region. The latest national average is consistent with what Harcourts has been reporting since March.
The new listing statistics though are quite different from what we have seen recently, with more sellers looking to take advantage of the current strong buyer demand rather than waiting for spring when history suggests they are likely to face more competition.
Last month saw a pleasing increase in the amount of exclusive Harcourts listings when compared with the previous month and with July 2008 too, but perhaps the most graphic display of sellers’ reaction to the current market is the significant lift in auction and tender campaigns secured in July 2009 compared to July 2008 and the solid growth in these listings on last month too.
This clearly shows that more sellers are looking to maximise their price through competition while avoiding driving buyers away through an over-optimistic fixed priced strategy. With such a high volume of properties being auctioned it means buyers need to make sure they understand the process and are in a position to bid and buy otherwise they risk missing out on some stunning property.
While hindsight is the only 100% accurate judge we believe that with our relatively stable marketplace, interest rates remaining attractive and a limited amount of housing stock for sale today’s solid real estate market should continue into Spring.
As always quality property in more sought after locations will continue to generate the most competition, while both sellers and buyers who have overly optimistic price expectations will remain frustrated.
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The regional breakdown of your figures is interesting. We have been complaining of a lack of stock in Christchurch for a while and that is bourne out by the figures – listings up 3%, sales up 37% leaving stock in hand -5%.
Auctions are up 50% – and are selling well – which is exacerbating the stock shortage.
Any thoughts on why listings picking up elsewhere?
Bryan, I’m not aware if you have been following the running commentary online as there have been some interesting posts this week on the Real Estate.co.nz blog site ‘Unconditional’ which fleshed out divergent perspectives in response to the post ‘Auctioning of property certainly growing in popularity (Updated).’
http://www.realestate.co.nz/blog/auctioning-of-property-certainly-growing-in-popularity.html
Some quick and dirty desktop analysis of reported sales for the Queenstown area higlighted sell method Auction represented 5% of all successful sales during the calendar year 2008.
The 7-months year to date 2009 that share has close to doubled sitting at 9%. A micro focus on last months sales shows sell method Auction was successful in 11.9% of all sales during July in the Queenstown area. Further analysis of the split between Mortgagee Auction and others would make interesting reading.
Dear Bryan
I am writing a piece on the Australian and New Zealand property markets for the next issue of Country Life International, the international number of british magazine Country Life. I’d very much like to interview you for my piece. can you spare a few minutes in the next seven days and, if yes, how can I get hold of you?
Best regards
Carla
Hi Carla
You can call me on +64 9 5205569 or mobile +64 274 780478
Kind Regards
Bryan
Excellent site, keep up the good work
I always check back to this website. Very informative. The statistics on real estate market is very helpful.