Sales are up, there’s a slower drop in house prices, and days to sell are down. There’s even an uptick in Wellington and Auckland’s median house prices.

The total number of properties sold across New Zealand last month were up 9.2 per cent from 5,047 to 5,509, and up 9.2 per cent month-on-month, REINZ stats show.

Across the regions, Northland (4.5 per cent), Auckland (18.2 per cent), Waikato (16.2 per cent), Manawatu-Wanganui (8.6 per cent), Tasman (8 per cent), Nelson (12.3 per cent), Marlborough (38.1 per cent), Canterbury (24.9 per cent) and Southland (4.2 per cent) all saw increases in sales counts year-on-year.

“Local agents are reporting that, as new listing numbers continue to decrease, the demand for entry-level property is holding and fairly strong, and properties are starting to move quicker,” says Jen Baird, REINZ’s chief executive.

The amount of time it is taking to sell properties dropped by six days year-on-year and five days month-on-month, a change from the trend of rising days to sell. The biggest drop in selling days was in Nelson, which declined 18 days from 60 days to 42 days.

New Listings

At the end of August, the total number of properties for sale across the country was 22,750, down 10.6 per cent (2,691 properties) from 25,441 year-on-year, and down 1.5 per cent month-on-month.

Nationally, new listings declined by 0.6 per cent from 7,492 listings to 7,444 year-on-year and increased 20.9 per cent compared to July.

The number of properties available for sale over the past three months continues to fall. Listings are still at lower levels compared with August last year, but only slightly. “Month-on-month there has been a 20.9 per cent increase of stock coming to market, suggesting seller confidence is returning and we can expect a more normal spring ahead for the property market,” Baird says.

Nationally, the median sale price dropped 4.1 per cent year-on-year from $800,000 to $767,000.

Regionally, median sale prices remained down year-on-year except for five regions: Nelson +0.7 per cent; Canterbury +0.8 per cent; Southland +2 per cent; Northland +3.6 per cent and Gisborne up 14.8 per cent year-on-year and up 13 per cent month-on-month. Auckland, the country’s largest property market, saw its median sale price move back up over the $1 million mark to $1,010,000, increasing 2 per cent month-on-month, but declining 8.2 per cent year-on-year.

The Capital

Wellington had month-on-month increases with the median sale price up 2.3 per cent from $733,000 to $750,000, and a 16.9 per cent increase in the number of properties sold from 438 to 512 month-on-month. Days to sell month-on-month dropped from 52 to 38, a 14-day decline.

“Higher interest rates and the ongoing costs of living pressures continue to impact the market ahead of the looming election. There is a sense across the country that the market has seen the bottom both in terms of prices and sales volumes, but we are all waiting to see how long it will take to see growth,” Baird says.

The HPI for New Zealand stood at 3,588 in August, showing a 0.9 per cent increase compared to the previous month.

However, when compared to the same period last year, the HPI reflects a 4.7 per cent decline. The average annual growth in the NZ HPI over the past five years has been 5.7 per cent per annum. It remains 16.1 per cent below the peak.