Housing slowdown not realistic, says Harcourts

A real estate company believes home owners are holding back from trying to sell their property due to the current market sentiment.

Harcourts has recorded a 40 per cent decline in property sales last month from the same period in 2007.

CEO Bryan Thomson says while the number of homes for sale is still high compared with last year, the number of new listings is lower than expected.

He says there has been a number of increases in interest rates and a slight drop in consumer confidence leading to the market slipping off last year's highs.

Thomson says the market has slowed to a level which is "not realistic".

He believes that many potential sellers feel that the Reserve Bank does not need to take such drastic measures to deal with inflation concerns, leading to people holding back from making decisions that they want to, and need to make.

- NEWSTALK ZB