The amount of housing stock for sale is at a 10 year high and average asking prices are tumbling, according to the latest data from property sales and rental website Realestate.co.nz.
The website had 31,745 residential properties available for sale at the end of June. That's up 28.6% compared to June last year, and the highest level of stock for sale on the website for the month of June since 2014.
Around the regions, the biggest increase in stock for sale was in the Wellington region where the number of properties for sale was up a whopping 49.8%. Next was Auckland +34.8%, Central Otago/Lakes +34.6%, and Coromandel +33.1%.
Eight regions had annual stock increases above 30% and none had less stock for sale compared to a year ago. See the chart below for the full regional stock details.
New listings remained strong in June at 7805, up 25.5% nationally compared to June last year, with all regions except Northland, Marlborough and West Coast posting increases.
New listings were up more than 30% compared to a year ago in Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay, Central North Island, Wairarapa, Wellington Region, Central Otago/Lakes and Southland. See the second chart below for the full regional figures.
The above figures suggest the market remains firmly in buyers' favour, which is also being reflected in average asking prices on the website which have been tumbling since March.
The national average asking price, non-seasonally adjusted, for properties advertised on Realestate.co.nz has declined for the last four consecutive months and was $837,241 in June. That's down $90,071 since February.
In Auckland, the country's largest housing market by far, the average asking price has also declined for four consecutive months to $1,012,050 in June, down $107,735 since February.
The average asking price in Auckland is now perilously close to dipping under $1 million.
Even in Central Otago/Lakes, which is the country's most expensive region and arguably its most buoyant, the average asking price has declined for three consecutive months, and at $1,392,221 in June was down by $192,790 compared to February.
However the slide in asking prices does have a silver lining.
It suggests vendors are now being more realistic in their pricing expectations and are reducing their asking prices to meet the market, which of course will be a welcome development for buyers and encourage them to bargain hard when negotiating a price.
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