The average asking price of residential properties in Auckland advertised on Trade Me Property dropped below $1 million for the first time in nearly four years last month.
The average asking price of Auckland properties advertised on the website was $986,750 in August, a 1.3% drop compared to July, and the first time it has been below $1 million since September 2020.
The national average asking price was $818,250 in August, down 0.8% compared to July and down 2.3% compared to August last year.
"We've not seen [national] prices drop to this level since April 2021 and if we keep seeing consecutive falls, as we have done over the last five months, we could see the average price go below $800,000," Trade Me Property customer director Gavin Lloyd said.
"it's going to be interesting to see what happens to prices over the next months as we come into spring."
"September results should be able to give us an indication as to whether we've just endured a difficult winter, or if drops are as a result of a more structural weakness in the housing market," Lloyd said.
The comment stream on this story is now closed.
You can have articles like this delivered directly to your inbox via our free Property Newsletter. We send it out 3-5 times a week with all of our property-related news, including auction results, interest rate movements and market commentary and analysis. To start receiving them, register here (it's free) and when approved you can select any of our free email newsletters.
120 Comments
or if drops are as a result of a more structural weakness in the housing market
No sh-t Sherlock....
Imagine when the positive spin just looks ridiculous. That's when the downward action will really start.
Ah-yes, all these glaring realities these Spin Doctors will have no choice but admit to in the months ahead will be a source of entertainment in itself.
They have to polish a turd....
Speaking of which, conspicuous by his absence, Zwifter's view on -4.0% for BOP???
The insane valuation expectations didn't just come out nowhere. LVRs were scrapped during Covid, money printers worked round-the-clock and OCR cut to the floor.
Looking back to May 2021, the government announced a budget with a 37 billion deficit or 44% of GDP. That was on top of billions in new handout packages announced like raffles every other week.
You have to be delusional to believe that those good times will be brought back soon to save the housing economy.
Do you? I mean we've kept it going against all sane logic up to now, why is pushing the boat out a little further out of the question?
I can see some pretty drastic things being done just to 'keep it level' on the basis that we definitely 100% pinky-swear we won't overcook it this time.
$10 billion of that was simply due to the govt's terrible track record of following the covid "science" when the science said "all is ok" they waited months and months, they were very reluctant to give up the "emergency powers".
The $10 billion lockdown of Auckland was the single worst incorrect govt decision in history, not to mention the most expensive. Everyone who needed the vaccine had it by that point, yet they still locked down, obviously drunk on power and terrified of scaring their main voting block (65+).
And "the Science" had already proven that the covid vaccine antibodies wore off rather quickly, so not only did they lock down while everyone was vaccinated, but they deliberately waited so long that by the time they opened up everyone's antibodies had already worn off rendering the vaccine useless. Then they had to fluff around trying to convince people to take boosters.
Nope Muldoon still holds that gong..https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/300327451/the-worst-decision-by-…
While true, he only campaigned on an idea. It wasn't a decision that was sprung on the voters, but was a headline campaign promise prior to being elected.
It's the worst decision ever made by a generation, who are now retired and reaping the rewards of voter self-interest.
Yes a terrible decision. Everyone had had an opportunity to get the vaccine, but as usual the left got too obsessed with helping people that didn't want to help themselves.
Great comment
Was that the reason though? I agree that people had plenty of opportunity to get vaccinated but was it done to stop the health system getting overwhelmed? Interested in comments from those in the health system if they're around to comment.
Always wait for KFC vouchers for vax and census compliance
It was in spring/summer. Wouldn't have been better to get as many through then rather than opening up in winter?
The damage done by cancelling all elective surgeries, and the backlog it caused, was arguably far greater loss than the projected deaths from covid. They may as well have been Predicted by a bank economist. Delays in cancer diagnoses leading to death, delays causing many to live in pain when they should have been helped and operated on, and the delays that caused a huge blowout in cost of recruiting more private facilities for imaging etc.
There were 11,000 secret vax exemptions. why ?
That was fake news pedalled by the media. Canada, and more specifically BC, have the same ICU bed rate per capita as NZ. They were dealing with Covid from ground zero with no vaccines etc. The health system never came close to collapse. The media around the world, especially the NZ media, turned up scaremongering to 11.
Helping people from what? Taking a unproven MRNA vaccine that was dangerous and ineffectual? The large majority of people who had serious symptoms from Covid had comorbidities and were obese or the very old.
Surely some of this is believable
Yes a terrible call. I am sure they lost a lot of support from that. It’s left a lot of mental scars, especially amongst youth.
Don't talk about Covid. You'll bring the cookers out.
Such a lazy insult. Since when does reading research make one a cooker? I’d say blindly following the government for your health recommendations is a slippery slope. Don’t forget your 8th booster
agree we voted them out and closed the door on this event
Was about to say the same thing - has this guy been hiding under a rock?
It's a pity that they act dumb
All is well, it's just an outflow of city dwellers to more desirable locations such as Riverhead.
Riverhead is like Huntly for the upper middle class.. not that special !
Don't drag Huntly down
The ankle bracelet capital of NZ.
It's a nice piece of jewellery...
Taj Mahal of NZ..
You can re-engineer the battery as a backup for your vape pen, and the GPS tracking is useful if you get lost pig hunting
Hamilton would be contending for that title surely?
I guess TronMVP won't be upvoting your post then :)
I love Hamilton. Paris in a Paddock
Riverhead / Coatsville is very cold in the morning, compared with Kaukapakapa and other places with better morning sun in the winter.
Riverhead is where you get seriously rich....if you're smart. Tax free.
Posters here would sooner waffle on about more taxes.
https://www.epa.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Documents/Fast-track-consenting/…
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/UnitaryPlanDocuments/06-pc100-app-4…
Riverhead is where you get seriously rich if you're smart. Tax free
Even a thought taking Spruiker would have a slither of something in which to base such claims right now. If you're buying with intention to bank any gains - it's taxed! Where does that leave you?
I know what I'm doing, I've owned heaps of houses. Leave the IR3 to me.
Listen, folks, nobody knows real estate like I do—I've owned more houses than you can count, believe me. And when it comes to the IR3, trust me, I've got it covered. Just leave it to me, okay? It's going to be tremendous, absolutely tremendous!
It hurts, doesn't it Amokk?
Envy is the thief of joy.
Oh, you’ve got me all figured out, big guy. Clearly, my attempts to mask my joy with material possessions and Riverhead hype were a total failure. It’s such a shame we’re not living the dream with a mortgage-free home and a blissful contentment with what we’ve got.
I’ll definitely rethink my whole approach to happiness - thanks for the expert advice!
Yes, do what I'm doing at the moment, have a strong G&T, I'm sure it'll help.
"Riverhead is where you get seriously rich"
If it's a secret to get seriously rich, WTH telling everyone about it?
Think about it, would Jeff Bezos personally tell everyone his secret to get rich? Everyone speculated how he got there, but never from him.
If it's a secret to get seriously rich, WTH telling everyone about it?
Underlying Insecurities.
Genuine high net worth individuals do exactly the opposite, they gain nothing from bragging on random forums.
Genuinely rich people get a kick out of debating with socialists and do-gooders.
Genuinely rich people won't waste their time debating, they are spending time to get even richer.
Only wannabe rich people get a kick out of debating with socialists and do-gooders!
That's what I'm doing, building in Riverhead.
Putting my money where my mouth is.
Which no one else here is doing.
I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Elons been known to start shit just cause it’s fun.
He told you how he got rich, did he?
What's the definition of 'rich'?
I ask this one all the time but no one answers. I'm sure you will though.
This situation isn't like he's found a gold mine that he needs to preciously guard from intruders. It's more like he's bought land next to the gold mine, and needs to invite some capable miners into the region so that he can profit from their productive endeavors.
He only gets rich if enough people agree with him, hence the constant promotion on here.
Bezos told people to buy stock in his company.
Yes, but how did he end up with all those stocks???
Now, it is the time to buy!
I did it first, TTP...
Hahaha. They are busy trying to offload their properties
The longer the economy takes to recover the greater the financial pressure on developers and high mortgage holders, the lower prices will go.
September 2025.. trademe reports àuckland asking prices keeps sliding and is now at 800k
Austerity for All!
Where is that MKII $100b Bazooka.
"Auckland asking prices that were advertised on Trade Me" .....soon they'll be comparing prices that result from a survey of the price estimates of the local gypsy community.
So what have asking prices got to do with anything? Absolutely nothing, unless you can point to an estabished relationship over, say, the last 30 years, between the asking prices as advertised on Trade Me and the actual realized price if in fact the property does eventually sell?
And isn't Trade Me the last resort of the desperate these days?
And so-called drops in price aren't meaningful in the over-all scheme of things unless there is a notable fall below pre-Covid prices. Price rises during Covid were an anomolous 'false dawn'.
Asking prices dropping on average is the signal that vendors are starting to meet the market and accept that asking 2021 prices gets them no sale. If I sell a car and want $3500 I will ask $5k and expect to get an offer around what I want. Selling a house people seem to expect that someone will offer at or above what they ask, and are somehow offended by offers lower than this because you know, they earned those capital gains through hard work right? (scoff)
There are few rules around RE Negotiation, interestingly Real Estate agents tend to achieve about 2-3% more for their own properties when they sell, mainly because they are willing to wait a bit longer for the buyer to come along to meet their price. Market dynamics matter here.
Put the offer on paper, expect it to be counter offered, be prepared to negotiate hard and walk away.
I dunno, I've made 3 offensive offers of late, vendors were shocked, didn't negotiate, decided to wait for another buyer, I have walked on. All 3 are still on the market a month later.
In a few months they will be withdrawn. Guaranteed!
what if the buyers 'have' to sell?
Must be quite a few getting desperate - divorces, job losses, OE, bereavement, sick of neg-equity and high interest payments.. for many there must be a tipping point.
Or listed at mortgagee when the banks finally stop trying to bluff the market.
@Sluggy
How offensive were your offers?
Between 15-20% below the "offers above" number. I would've negotiated, but I won't blink first so walked on. One of them is a must sell. These were all in Northland.
The agents call these "Wasting Everyone's time offers" but they are important.
Actually, most agents would prefer you to submit any (written) offer rather than no offer at all. They believe that any offer may be the only way to get the ball rolling so to speak.
They hope (against hope) that they may have at least the chance (however remote) of eliciting a counter-offer from the vendor no matter that it be accompanied with howls of self-righteous indignation that they would literally be "giving" their treasured property away if they sold at such an insulting price.
The greatest delusion regarding the real estate industry is that the agent must exclusively work in the vendors best interests. So, who can tell if the agent is working for the vendors best interests if he submits a low-ball offer. He may either be wanting a sale just for his own benefit (the commission) or he may recognize that the vendors are deluding themselves in wanting too-high a price and, knowing they genuinely want or need to sell, goes with the low-ball-offer strategy to make them face reality.
If a buyer wants to go to paper the agents has have to legally present, but beginner agents sometimes do not want to.
All this bold and underlining really gives an impression of desperation to spin a narrative.
It's another noisy data series, HPI will confirm in the end. If I were looking to buy or sell, I'd be looking at these numbers as a leading indicator, with a good pinch of salt.
When I do look for property it tends to be on Trade Me. I'd be asking the opposite question - does anyone list a house without it appearing on Trade Me these days?
I listed my property for sale on Trade Me for $1.5 Trillion. The average asking price on Trade Me is now $45m.
I'm pretty sure everyone advertises their house on trademe these. Not just the desperate. Or is that everyone?
It wasn't that long ago it felt like almost everything was selling over $1 mil in Auckland. Crappy places in South Auckland were getting well over. Now the average house is asking less!
Obviously this metric can be significantly skewed by all the new terraces though.
You mean sh!t holes were selling for a million dollars..
Boggy ones in Riverhead.... in some places you have to truck it away.
. dp
- Buy a South Auckland development site for close to $2 mil (this was actually happening!)
- Spend $100k plus on plans / reports / etc
- Mortgage rates go up, build costs go up, house prices go down
- Decide to hold off on building works
- Decide to keep property until market picks up
- Bank sells property at mortgagee sale for $500k
- Walk away owing the bank $1.6 million
8. Learn valuable lesson
Very valuable
I hear interest.co.nz subscriptions are pretty sharp in comparison 🤣
9. Leaving for Australia and left the 1.6mil debt behind.
(yes read quite a few did it on NZers in Australia FB group)
And never come back? Not a problem if you have no family here I guess.
My mate got chased down in Scotland for a speeding ticket he got here. I can't believe people think moving abroad would stop the bank coming for them.
- Buy a South Auckland development site for close to $2 mil (this was actually happening!)"
Many were purchased small deposits (5%) with longer term deferred settlements. Then developer walked away from their deposit leaving the vendor caught out. Probably no recourse on the failure to settle on the higher purchase price by the vendor on the buyer as the contract was made by a shell company with little to no assets. So vendor lost out on the difference when they subsequently sold at a lower price.
Here is one such news report:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/128403463/develope…
I'm a FHB so my bias is for lower prices, however surely you'd need to overlay that data with avg. square metreage or some similar metric. If we're supplying the market with more cheaper housing (smaller sections) then the average price will go down.
The HPI is meant to cover these factors. It too is going down but it's not nearly as pronounced.
Of course you would. Try actually going to look for a decent house in an ok suburb there is nothing under a mil unless there is something very wrong with it. The HPI is the only value metric anyone should pay attention to.
I think looking at individual houses can be useful, some Ponsonby villas have lost 25% on resale
I would never buy one unless it's been re-piled.
I used to work on those dumps back in the late 60's.
Clearly retired from buying and selling Ponsonby dumps and moved uptown to Riverhead...
Know someone with a house on Napier Hill stuck on the idea of selling for those Covid-era highs at 1.2m, but their agent thinks 0.8-0.9m is more realistic. It’s been on the market for nearly two months now. Similar story in Palmy, where another place turned down an offer close to 1m earlier this year, aiming higher. After multiple listings and withdrawals, it's now back up for 0.835m and hasn’t moved in over two months either.
Can we overlay the Ireland housing market crash - I wonder if we are still beating them on the downslope (taking into account inflation).
New Zealand - Housing Prices (July) Prices MoM (since peak):
- National -0.3% (-16.7%) -
National (ex-Auckland) +0.5% (-12.2%) -
Auckland -1.6% (-23.5%) -
Wellington -1.8% (-25.7%)
*Riverhead +187% (-10%)
*Riverhead +187% (-10%)
I had to do a double take on that one - LOL!
Riverhead lifestyle blocks are up 187%....if you care to check it out. Push the 'lifestyle' button, Einstein.
Let me guess, just give me a minute as this is a tough one..........they're up 187% since you bought - right?
I bought about May last year, so definitely not, but if it's up 30 or 40%, since I bought, I'll be happy.
Watch closely unemployment, non-performing loans and liquidations over the coming 12-24 months
The housing price carnage will continue like I have said many times until average wage couple can afford to buy . Many people who have disregarded downturn and purchased a property over last few year’s now deep into negative equity which will crash market faster as banks panic to recover funds.
"until average wage couple can afford to buy" - that might not be far away, I am starting to think the RBNZ will be making much bigger OCR cuts than they were expecting to.
If they cut to much inflation will come back quickly and NZD will tumble. With GDP so low things could get very ugly and housing will be the big loser in New Zealand with many people stuck in negative equity for years and paying for each month.
I don't see anyone raising their prices in the current environment. Imported costs may increase due to falling dollar, but probably not by much.
It will soon be a good time for the Govt to implement capital gains and LOSSES tax so property sellers can get a tax refund🤣
Without another major financial crisis to ease inflationary pressure I just can't see how housing can get out of this downward cycle.
Prices fall enough so that cashflows provide a yield that can cover maintenance and provide for lack of capital gains, ie prices fall a long way. Yields are not going to rise any other way. Its brutal its a crash.
Yup. A doom-loop with buyers not buying because they expect prices to fall further.
Interest rate induced asset price deflation
we are heading towards deflation
Did you guys watch the news tonight about the West, and Westgate, and the exploding growth, bigger than any other part of Auckland?
The party rolls on out West.
Oh, you saw the news about the West and Westgate? Tremendous, just tremendous. The growth is so off the charts, it’s like nothing Auckland’s ever seen before—bigger and better than anywhere else, believe me. The party out West? Absolutely phenomenal. No one’s ever seen a party like this. It’s the best, folks. The very best. Everyone’s talking about it!
Was I supposed to read that in Trump's voice? Because I did.
Mate you might as well buy in Swanson as its closer to Westgate than Riverhead. Actually half of west Auckland is.
Swanson?
You gotta be joking. Only if I've got half a dozen police officers as neighbours - with their patrol cars parked outside.
And 3 alsatians.
The way you behave I'm pretty sure you need security in every neighbourhood.
You and the other guys here hunker down for property Armageddon Toye.
I won't be.
I'd get loads of thumbs up if I was to be discussing socialism and more taxes, but having some fun and making money at the same time are off limits here.
Anyway, busy day ahead......
We all know where your thumb is
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.