Properties go for less than RV despite fewer listings
Most Rotorua properties are selling for below their rateable values despite significantly fewer listings on the market, a local real estate agent says.
McDowell Professionals Rotorua director Phil Hereford said new listings had been selling quickly, but older stock had been "sticking" in the market where sellers were pricing them unrealistically high.
Data released this week in the Realestate.co.nz Property Report recorded 10,365 new listings on the national market last month - a 10 per cent increase from July and a 2.4 per cent rise year-on-year.
But the report reveals there were 15.4 per cent fewer August listings in the Bay of Plenty, which includes Rotorua, than for the same time last year. The average asking price fell nearly 4 per cent from the previous month to $408,180.
Mr Hereford said 85 to 90 sales were finalised last month.
And while there was less stock on the market, the stock that sold fast was selling below its RV, Mr Hereford said.
Nationwide, a surge of new listings in August gave the property market a healthy kick start for spring.
However, the market remains firmly in favour of sellers as Auckland registers another record high for asking prices, according to the report.
While national asking prices had remained steady at $430,443, the Auckland region surged to $585,482 - the highest level in five years.
The asking price in Wellington and Canterbury fell in August, with Canterbury recording the lowest levels since January, down 4.8 per cent to $374,732.
Taranaki saw the biggest drop, down 6.7 per cent to $280,560.
Meanwhile, property listings have started to flow back on to the market with the onset of the "spring splurge", with some regions experiencing significant lifts.
The Central North Island, Gisborne, Taranaki, Wairarapa and Otago all reported year-on-year increases of more than 20 per cent. Wairarapa saw the largest boost, with a 40.1 per cent increase in new listings.
Bay of Plenty reported the biggest drop off with 15.4 per cent fewer listings than the same time last year.
Paul McKenzie, marketing manager of Realestate.co.nz, said in addition to its high asking prices, Auckland had registered a record low for inventory - the amount of time a region's housing stock would take to sell - at 18 weeks.
"The sellers' market that has persisted for much of this year has not abated, but buyer interest remains high, so the strong level of new listings should provide some healthy selection for spring," Mr McKenzie said.
The report follows this week's release of the QV Quarterly Property Report, which measures fluctuations in sales volumes and prices.
It found the Auckland market is again leading the way nationwide, while most provincial sale prices were stagnant or declining.
By the numbers
- $408,180 - the average asking price for a property in Bay of Plenty
- 3.8 - percentage change from July
- $430,443 - the average asking price for a property in New Zealand
- 0.3 - percentage change from July
- 426 - new Bay of Plenty listings in August
- 15.4 - percentage change from August 2011
- 10,365 - property listings nationwide in August
- 2.4 - percentage change from August 2011
