The New Zealand property market picked up again
The New Zealand property market picked up again during July, but new listings are in short supply, prompting a warning that disillusioned buyers could end up leaving the market due to a lack of choice.
A monthly report prepared by industry website Realestate.co.nz shows new listings fell 15 per cent on a year ago, and fell by 2 per cent to 8966 from June 2011.
Meanwhile the projected number of weeks it takes to clear existing inventory fell to 38.5 weeks nationally, but was much lower in the main centres, including Auckland where it's at 24 weeks.
"In the space of four months, Auckland has moved from being a buyers to a sellers' market, as the projected number of weeks it takes to clear existing inventory has continued to decline," Realestate.co.nz's chief executive Alistair Helm said.
The low level of supply could see disillusioned buyers exiting the market or prices moving up, if not met by a rise in supply, the report said.
Nationally, there are now just four out of 19 regions where buyers continue to have the upper hand.
However it appears the situation has not yet affected sellers' expectations.
The mean asking price for new listings across New Zealand fell 3 per cent to $403,474 from a month earlier.
"We are now more in favour of sellers than buyers in the vast majority of regions, but the market doesn't appear to have realised it," Helm said.
- NZ HERALD ONLINE