Harcourts CEO Bryan Thomson said anecdotal feedback from around the real estate group indicated the level of buyer interest in residential sections had risen notably in recent months, in part because of a shortage of houses for sale. Thomson said the renewed interest followed months of little or no enquiry and had lifted Harcourts' number of section sales. "From all sorts of locations - major metropolitan centres through to smaller regional towns - we've had reports that there's a renewed level of interest in sections and also an increase in the volume of sales, after what has been a very quiet period for this segment of the property market," Thomson said. "In part this is because the volume of house sales has increased in recent months but there hasn't been an abundance of new listings coming to the market, so for the large number of serious buyers there is actually a shortage of houses for sale and they are therefore having to consider buying a section and building instead," he said. "When coupled with the fact that the asking price for sections has come back, by up to 30% in some cases, and that the cost of building materials and labour have eased as suppliers and tradespeople "˜sharpen their pencils' this option has actually become a pretty attractive proposition."
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