The summer selling season got a good head of steam in Barfoot & Thompson's offices in November with the number of sales made, selling prices, new listings and stock levels all heading north.
The real estate agency, which is the biggest in Auckland, sold 956 residential properties in November, up from 846 in October (+13%) and well up from the 700 it sold in November last year (+37%).
Selling prices were also on the up, with an average selling price of $1,185,820 in November, up $95,096 (+9%) from October, while the median selling price was $1,018,000, up $6750 (+0.7%) compared to October.
The strong increase in the average price compared to the modest increase in the median price was likely due to more homes selling at the top end of the market, with sales above $2 million accounting for 23% of Barfoot's sales in November compared with 15% in October.
New listings held steady at 1841 in November compared to 1829 in October, while the total stock available for sale increased to 4841 in November, up 6% compared to October.
"November was the month when all the talk about positive gains for the housing market showed up in sales data," Barfoot & Thompson Managing Director Peter Thompson said.
"The recovery is modest but steady, and gained momentum in the later part of the month, indicating that December will be a good trading month.
"Buyers returned in strength to the top end of the market, with 91 sales of properties for more than $2 million, the highest in a month for 20 months.
"Of this number, 24 sold for more than $3 million, also the highest number for 20 months."
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110 Comments
Great news, NZ is back on the path to prosperity.
Edit: Sarc!
Prosperity for who?
The landed gentry.
There's no doubt New Zealand has prosperity, but it's an unequal prosperity.
Its not equal prosperity anywhere in the world. Some people need a reality check, they don't know how good they have got it in NZ, try watching the footage coming out of Gaza.
Exactly the idea of a "middle class" is a rubbish ideal. It existed for all of about 20 years in Western Societies 1950-1970. Societies generally have rich & poor. plebeians and patricians. Both major NZ political parties support this idea through policy. They are trying to rid NZ of what is left of the middle class so the natural order of things can be restored.
Regardless of classes, it would be nice if everyone could at least afford food and shelter. This doesn't only depend on the government though, it also depends on what the individuals themselves do or don't do.
Simply saying “Stop moaning it could be worse” is nonsense. So if we were the South Africa of the South Pacific that would be ok because things are worse in Gaza? The fact is NZ has been going backwards as a country for decades, yes things could always be worse but that shouldn’t stop us from calling out what is wrong and trying to improve things!
Good luck with that. We will be lucky to stop things getting worse than they are now going forward. As a collective society we are not prepared to make the changes required anymore to make things better in the long term, its always someone else's problem.
So long as younger working Kiwis are funding the pensions, the rental yield welfare subsidies, and the monetary bailout costs for older Kiwis one might be a bit more self-aware when yelling at younger Kiwis that they should simply buck up because they've got it so good and they need to do it all under the own steam. While older Kiwis are not and have not.
As an older person I agree, we had it great when we were younger, good jobs, less traffic, lower priced food, house prices affordable, baches were baches, people were not competing with jones's. Now we have self entitled old people who cannot admit how lucky we were and are. We berate young people and say suck it up and pay your multi million dollar mortgages or do better if you have to rent, while patting ourselves on the back saying we offer a rental service while creaming the capital gains. All the while pushing up inflation. Let's thank both labour and National for making it hard for the young and future generations. Hey but at least it's not Gaza.
I dont think many people are under the illusion it's not.
Sarc?
All is good, soon you'll need two lifetimes of sacrifices to pay for the 2 million average house. :(
Sarc?
Very much so.
Why don't you just speak your mind without sarcasm?
Because people like yourself will simply label me a “DGM”, seems I can’t win.
Smudge, the only person I call DGM is… well… the commenter who calls him/herself DGM, to address him/her
https://www.yourtango.com/2015272644/sarcastic-people-are-smarter-says-…
Because according to the results of a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, being able to understand sarcasm and use it like a pro, is actually a sign that you are super-intelligent and highly creative.
Hurray! A higher cost of living!
Wasn't it strange a year or two ago when people were complaining about essentials becoming more expensive?
Today's headline accords with the housing market trend evident over the last 3-4 months - including the HPI.
Let's hope the contributors here accept the reality with good grace and humility - laced with innocuous humour.
TTP
None of what's happening now is a mystery or remotely unusual......
It's just the normal, cyclical behaviour of the housing market - with house prices increasing over the long term.
If you can't understand that (or simply don't like/accept it) then best you head elsewhere...... Clearly, this blog isn't a good habitat for you. ☹️
TTP
Oh-No, another Sp - - - - - r has lost the plot and begun arguing with themselves....
The pressure is clearly taking its toll....🤣
You shouldn’t be unkind to stupid people
A $6750 increase in the medium going into Summer isn't particularly strong. Still, interesting to keep an eye on. Clearly those at the top end aren't feeling the pinch.
I.E. mortgage free baby boomers
Like they say, the trend is your friend. I'm sure plenty of people already in the market are happy it didn't go down $6750.
It may not be much but it matches my after tax salary for the month of October. It would take me 4 months to save the increase. And more so than that, it has been steadily increasing for a solid five months now in Auckland. Those who are able to buy but are holding out for a further crash might be waiting a while.
I went to buy some food & petrol today...apparently the increase in the value of my house isn't legal tender,who'd have thought...but at least I have something to chat about now at the summer barbecues.
A good observation.
Smart time to upsize - ride the capital gains on a higher value property. Back to 10% annual growth by June 2024?
LOL. Upsize? Maybe. 10% growth? LOL.
As expected, super rich still creaming it as the poorest languish.
Can you describe "super rich" in your opinion?
Also when do poor get richer?
When they spend less than they earn, like everyone else.
And hide that fact from the landlord.
And when less of their wages go to pumping property via policy.
Hi Yvil,
In answer to your question I would say the super rich are the top 1-3% of global population.
You might like this calculator:
Many have no chance of getting rich anyway because of poor personal choices, and that's just a fact. Breeding like flies, no ambition, no education, hanging out with losers, crime, spendthrift, poor choice of employment...etc.etc.
Poor choice of available options afforded by parents and their social circles, poor choice of quality education at the only school accessible from their house, poor choice of food quality without money, poor choice of credit management when unexpected happens and you love hand to mouth from minimum wage job and put the unexpected stuff on loan, poor choice to pull out of school to help family put food on the table, poor choice to not attend university because you didn't finish high school. Sarc
Come on wingman, there's plenty of reasons why people get into hardship. Maybe recognise your own advantages before bleating about others who don't have the same luxurious array of choices available, or don't have the advantage of knowing how to access those that are available
My main advantage was to have parents that valued the work ethic.
I went to work overseas in 1969 and as I Ieft the country my father gave me $50 to get me through until my first pay. I didn't get married until I was 41, I've had 2 children and have a wife who is also supportive and careful with money.
Breaking the law because you've had a poor upbringing isn't an excuse, there's plenty of jobs for those who want to get ahead and make something of themselves. I read an article the other day about a guy who arrived from the Cook Islands poverty-stricken - he's made a fortune in his drain-laying business.
Lots of people out there make extremely poor choices...dope, crime, banging babies out while they're teenagers, squandering money on cars, wrecking them boy racing, meeting all their buddies for burn-outs....OMG..don't start me on it.
Getting ahead in life isn't brain surgery.
wingman...you don't have to answer if it is too personal,is your wife from NZ?
Why does that make a difference? Who cares where she's from?
All good,like I said,no need to answer if you don't want to.
The answer is there reading between the lines.
My mates c...nese wife is a hard-working little go-getter and good mum but not so pretty. Beauty comes from within ... and a bottle of make-up
You're a literal boomer. As commentators have noted many a time, those born in that generation benefited from the most affordable housing, easiest money (in terms of bank credit) and thereafter highest capital gains in modern history. The fact of the matter is that you are out of touch to a greater or lesser degree, and I would argue greater. Sure, the most motivated, entrepreneurial and luckiest 1 in 1000 will always do well. However, society cannot run on what works for the outliers. In your little holier-than-thou morality tales, you ignore the fact that someone who has come through a tough childhood to become an experienced nurse, teacher or tradie making $80,000 pa at thirty years old has nearly no chance of getting into a first home in any of the big cities. And the issues in the way are structural, not moral. But you're OK, so there isn't much need to think more deeply than that.
There are those that will always do well in the real estate business, it ain't brain surgery, but it does require guts. At one stage in 1986/1987, I bet my own house on the stock market to make money...would you have the balls to do that?
I started buying cheap land on the Scenic Drive and made enough to get into a house.
Easy credit? Not true. I had a policy with AMP since birth but they wouldn't lend me money because I wasn't married, so I approached a land agent I knew who put me onto one of the building societies.
I borrowed millions in todays dollars, renovated a house that was so filthy my legs got covered in fleas when I walked in. It was a house I bought at a mortgagee sale ..and you're not allowed to see inside until you take possession. It was disgusting, but I made a lot out of it, subdivided it and built another house.
Have a go....gear your own house up to the nth degree - there's mortgagee sales in every Saturday's Herald.
Wingman _ represented well done. I mean that. It seems in my own life I had to do it hard twice however that set me up 1x i had to learn some lessons 2x because of the lessons I learned I chose to make things financially difficult for myself (as in save 50% of my salary) so that I can live the life I wanted to, still not there. however nice post. You have to do it hard for a while.
I use to project, now I realize there are so many different people with different circumstances. But it takes a bit of empathy and self awareness it's not easy to understand. I get that.
Work ethic is a wonderful thing, and my dad especially encouraged that. However just work ethic and balls doesn't cut it anymore, if it has ever. If that were all that were required there'd be plenty more millionaires.
There's plenty of people I know of who make damn good choices and none of that list you made, are willing to take on risk and work hard for years and years but haven't had their break yet.
Individual choices are important, especially compounded over the long term, but we can't lose sight of the different structures people make choices within, and the extent to which they support or drag on that individual's agency
Times and environments change mate.
Many have no chance.
That part of your comment is true. The rest isnt. You need to read up on the psychology around being poor, projecting your own experience, along with the confirmation bias provided by those you associate with leads to comments like yours.
If you want to talk crime, lets talk white collar crime, the cost to the country, the minimal sentences (if any), the amount that gets swept under the carpet. It costs the country a shit load more than the blue collar crime that hits the MSM headlines.
If you wanna get rich you start hanging out with people that are getting ahead, not whining about being poor and how hard life is.
There's plenty of jobs for those that want them, I read all the time about kiwis going to Aussie and making something of themselves in the mines. Both my kids are in Aussie.
I've got a relative who's just a failure and a loser, he's had every opportunity in life but he's squandered family money, been in trouble with the cops and has many drink driving convictions. A complete no-hoper.
I stopped in a town down south a while back for breakfast, some of the very obese locals were standing around at 8 in the morning swigging fizzy drinks.
The over 2mill buyers got FOMO with the proposed allowance of foreign home buyers...? Wonder if these buyers will regret it now Nationals flip flopped?
That's exactly the case, speculators jumped in wishing the ban will be lifted.. many will be regretting
As long as you can make yourself feel better by believing others will regret things.
What?
It was a hasty and poorly thought election pledge to begin with. In desperation for a piece of the action, it appears some actually fell for it. The following is desperation AU style....
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/big-banks-co…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpgQWqXSchw
I think Its symptomatic of a market ripe for another fall to be honest.
I think Its symptomatic of a market ripe for another fall to be honest. [Retired-Poppy - above]
When, Retired-Poppy, have you ever thought the market is not ripe for another fall? 🤔
The history of this blog shows that when you predict a market fall, the market rises to a crescendo.......
And I suspect history is about to repeat itself. 🦉
TTP
....right on que - LOL!
Hi RP, you are pretty convinced the fall is not over which is fine. We can disagree and live by our own convictions.
However, most indices have shown steady price rises for four months now. My question for you is, how many months of rises will it take for you to change your opinion that the floor has now passed and this is not a dead cat bounce? Genuinely interested and don't want a fight thanks.
Baptist, if the market doesn't show resumption of falls come publication of March 2024 figures (HPI - median), I will still be on here to face the shear humiliation that I was wrong - LOL!
I respect your approach whereas you can respect the opinion of others without it becoming personal :)
I remain unconvinced on the grounds that we have not yet seen the full effects of the wash through of fixed interest rollovers, increasing council rates, insurance and steadily rising unemployment.
Cheers RP. If, come March you are proved to be wrong I for one won't be throwing tomatoes at you. Economics is a fickle game and we will all make wrong predictions at times. It is those who never attempt to predict changes who are the bigger fools.
I don't think our views are too different. You are probably right that the refixing effect hasn't been fully felt. But I think you are underestimating the base demand and supply fundamentals. Demand is growing with immigration and long term supply isn't keeping up. I think any falls through 2024 will be real rather than nominal. As I told you before, Im leveraged so real falls are inconsequential.
Australia had a pretty decent house price bounce and now it’s falling again. Doesn’t mean that the same will happen here, but it might.
DGM, you missed having the first post for once, like this one about the auction results last Saturday.
by Dgm | 4th Dec 23, 11:26am
Busiest period and a sales rate of below 40%.. definition of a cold/we/damp/lethargic/ uninspired housing market
Auctions as a metric are flawed, because in this environment it's harder getting enough pre approved buyers to make an action worthwhile.
It'll get bad at some point but the economy is proving to be crazy resilient.
Yeah I've seen a lot of online chatter about FHBs now avoiding auctions after being screwed over by them (agents not being honest, vendors wanting higher prices etc). Worth noting. They want to know the price.
Very anecdotal, but that's certainly been my experience as a FHB.
Do you have a life? You seem to stalk people on this site..
Speculators don't define a healthy housing market.. I know you would have a dumb rhetoric
Oh there you are, welcome back 🙂
Speculators are mostly on the sidelines, price still go up.
Good news is you can be sadfaced at speculators independently of what price and speculators are doing.
Stop lamenting..
It's a bummer I know. All these guys getting jazzed that housing affordability is magically going to improve, all on its own. Overleveraged packing themselves and selling off property at any price.
Some say "do the math", but you need to do more homework than your maths to pass year 11.
Haha.. if you are so great, you won't be all the time ringing the bells..
Keep clutching straws.. I know your head must hurt that the foreign buyers ban is still in place
The only person who doesn’t have a life on here is the keyboard warrior DGM himself.
Hi Yvil,
Well exposed, re your post (above) regarding DGM. ✅
TTP
Oh wow backup has arrived.. but nothing short of his shadow
Top end dumping while there is still meat on the bone.
"Dumping" would make prices go down, not up!
This isn’t Bitcoin Yvil.
Nope it's not Bitcoin, but the economic logic stands. If whatever asset gets "dumped" = sold en masse, the price goes down, not up, no matter if it's RE, shares, Bitcoin etc...
Oh my mistake, I didn’t realise there was a real-time sell button for real estate.
Guess you missed the hyperbole intentionally.
Let me make it kid friendly.
People are “trying” to offload assets while there is some albeit withering buoyancy in the market.
Choosing to sell a property doesn’t guarantee a successful hospital pass, not immediately anyway.
Good to see medians covered though disappointed with the bait-click headline
Barfoot & Thompson's November sales up strongly - prices also rising
Perhaps a word with your editor is needed. Unless interest wants to compete with the Herald...
Different segments of the market will show different activity levels. The high end has money and relativity.
That's targeted for the likes of Yvil and painter
Although you may not like the headline Timutei, it's not misleading neither click-bait, it's just factual.
"Sales up strongly", sales are up 37% on the same month last year, well… that's up… strongly.
Also "Prices also rising", well they are rising, both in average and median terms !
"Sales up strongly", sales are up 37% on the same month last year, well… that's up… strongly.
But last year sales were at the lowest they had been in 12 years so 37% not actually that strong as it's off a low base.
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/118865/not-very-merry-christmas-rea…
Still much lower than 2021 and 2020, comparable to 2019.
The median raised by 0.7% in a month or 6k. To be fair, this is about as fast a rise as is historical on a rolling three month average.
For Nov 2019 the Barfoot median price for the month was $891,000 average price was $963,671
So overall now 4 years later the median is up by .127K ( 14% total or 3.3% PA compounding) and the average by 222k (23% total or 5.3% compounding).
But both likely skewed higher by the recovery of sales in the + 2 mil range.
For Nov 21 the Barfoot average price was $1,250,886 and the median price was $1,240,000. So a slightly different story for those buyers.
Using the RBNZ inflation caculator we have the following data on average prices:
2019 Average $963,000 (= $1,220,000 in 2023 housing dollars.)
2023 Average $1,185,000.
Current prices are still $40k below the 2019 average.
Awesome work. Dumb kiwis you are NOT. Both of you.
It is just an equation. Low stock and so prices jump. No real surprise.
Saw a house go for 3 million when CV was 2.2ish. No reason for it. That tells the story. There are just not many houses for sale.
If more stock should come to the market then things change very quickly as a severe shortage rapidly becomes an oversupply.
From the article above:
the total stock available for sale increased to 4841 in November, up 6% compared to October
Earlier article says Auckland stock is down 5% year on year.
If the listings keep coming then it will drop prices. Wait and see I think.
Rodger,it will be interesting to see how much stock comes on the market when the brightline is brought back to 2 years,I suspect many are hanging on by the skin of their teeth with interest rates,but don't want to pay any tax...so will depend on what the interest rates are when the brightline is wound back.
That makes sense to me. But need to consider as well whether the interest rates drop for the right reasons or the wrong reasons.
It is only positive for housing if rates drop in a soft landing type scenario.
But asking prices have gone in the opposite direction and headed down for the month
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/125488/new-listings-total-stock-mor…
I think these results are summed up well by Thompson: ‘The recovery is modest but steady’
Nothing to get excited about for either spruikers or DGMs.
Australia is dipping again after a bounce. I think we could see that here too.
"Nothing to get excited about for either spruikers or DGMs"
Nice to see a reasoned neutral comment. 🙂
All the DGM commenters on this site will be kicking themselves for not buying those $2m + houses a few months ago like the smart commenters were advising them to do.
Best comment today (even if it made me spill my wine),
The time to pile in was a few months back when it was all doom and gloom as socialism wrecked the NZ economy.
by wingman | 6th Dec 23, 3:37pm 1701830267 - "The time to pile in was a few months back"
Now you've alluded there's limit upside potential, this can only mean only one thing - due to speculators dreams falling short under the soaring cost of home ownership, the market may be about to plummet. This revelation of yours may not be well received by your ilk.
Wouldn't think so. I bought land a few months ago on the outskirts of Auckland when nothing was moving. 2 similar properties have sold since the election for about $700k more.
There's a lot of people arriving in this country, and most of them want to live in Auckland. Many of them will be very well heeled. The new govt. will allow people to live how they wish, and not expect them to live in boxes like sardines.
New listings double the amount being sold,as the market becomes flooded prices will fall anyone purchasing today will see sharp drop in values over the next few months.
That press release is about as reliable as a wart on your nose . Or is that a nose on your wart ?
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