Realtor tries free iPad listing tactic

Steven Glucina. Photo / Supplied

A real-estate agent is giving away Apple iPads and others are offering freebies to spark interest in a housing market which has sputtered to record-low sales.

Auckland real estate agent Steven Glucina has resorted to offering the iPad to encourage sceptical homeowners to sell, saying it was hard to get good listings.

The lack of good listings further discouraged people from listing their properties because they could not find a better house to move into, Mr Glucina said.

"There are not a lot of quality homes - people are hesitant about selling if they haven't found anything," he said.

He thought giving away iPads would be something a bit different - though enticements to draw buyers to open homes have been frequent.

The Real Estate Institute last week reported that only 4323 houses sold in September, the lowest figure in a month since it began keeping tabs in 1992.

The low for the springtime month, when the industry had hoped sales would warm up after a tough winter, is only the second September in which sales fell below 5000.

In 2008 September sales fell when US finance giant Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in the global financial crisis.

Sales have dropped by a third since last year, putting them 36 per cent below the 19-year average and in total at only 40 per cent of the market's peak in 2003.

It took sellers 26 per cent longer to find a buyer last month than the median September during the period, 1.8 times longer than seven years ago.

Realestate.co.nz's monthly report showed the stock of unsold houses had swelled 48 per cent from last year.

Others have come up with creative giveaways to drum up interest, which have included a Trade Me auction to "buy a tractor and get a [8ha] farm for free".

REINZ spokesman Bryan Thomson said incentive schemes were common in all industries at different times.

Real estate firms were generally expecting to rebound from historic lows without having to do anything extra than have well-trained staff, he said.

It had been a very tough winter, during which the Government's Budget and changes to taxes had brought uncertainty to the market, but there was an underlying demand, Mr Thomson said.

Auckland, in particular, had been an "absolute shocker".

Meanwhile, house prices have held steady at a median of $350,000, an expected spring bounce failing to materialise.

Institute of Economic Research head economist Shamubeel Eaqub said house prices were likely to follow the tumbling sales numbers.