SUSAN PEPPERELL
Potential home buyers who think house prices will drop even further may have missed their chance to pick up bargains.
Real estate agents and commentators have detected a change in the market driven by interest rates and low numbers of new listings that is now tipping the balance back towards sellers.
Some are saying buyers now can’t afford to wait and think about making an offer or they will find themselves in a bidding war.
In Hamilton last weekend a house that had been on the market for just three days attracted seven offers and sold for about $5000 over the asking price.
The house, in the northern suburb of Flagstaff, was listed at $379,000, has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and borders a park.
Agent Claire Lugton, who listed the property, said one buyer wanted to make an offer the day it was listed but the vendors decided to wait until after two weekend open homes and set a deadline of 5pm on Sunday for all offers.
Lugton said multi-offers have become common in Hamilton in the past four to six weeks but were rare before that.
“This is the most positive I have seen the market in three years. If I had another six houses like that one, I could sell them just like that.”
Online company realestate.co.nz reported a 16% drop in new listings nationwide for May this year compared to the same period last year. Its May property report said the market was tipping towards favouring sellers and this was being seen particularly in Auckland and Queenstown Lakes.
Helen O’Sullivan, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, said multi-offers were starting to become more a feature of the market nationwide.
The low level of new listings reflected what seemed to be a new mood of caution, she said.
“The market has certainly stabilised and is recovering but it’s not surging away.”
There were between 5000 and 6000 transactions a month which was “pretty subdued” compared to the boom times a few years ago.
“But it’s all relative. The figures are better than last year and while they are not a cause for optimism, they are less causes for pessimism.
“We are very wary of making predictions but, when you look at the last six months, there has been a gentle lift and prices have stabilised,” she said.
Auckland was leading the way in terms of value and turnover.
Barfoot Thompson, one of the leading Auckland real estate players, reported a 25% lift in sales compared to April and a 12% jump when compared to May last year.
Managing director Peter Thompson said the company sold 889 properties last month, but the major issue in Auckland remained a lack of choice.
“At the end of May we had only 5249 properties on our books, the lowest number for 20 months.” He believed home owners thinking of selling were waiting for stronger signs of economic recovery.
Alistair Helm, chief executive of www.realestate.co.nz, said Wellington was increasingly interesting. While it had a unique ability to somehow match new listings with new buyers, and therefore remain fairly buoyant, that might change in coming months.
Foreshadowed state-sector job cuts were likely to have a flow-on effect on the property market. That could lead to a complete stalling of the market or more homes being listed as people decided to move elsewhere in search of work.
Queenstown, with its market driven as much by international as domestic buyers, was seeing more overseas interest, Helm said.
Sales in the resort town had picked up and, following “massive adjustments” in section prices, there were good opportunities for international buyers.
– Sunday Star Times