Residential housing market showing signs of improvement

RNZ

15 Nov, 2023 09:08 PM2 mins to read

With the general election over, vendors looking to sell have renewed confidence, Jen Baird from REINZ says. Photo / Chris Tarpey

The residential housing market is continuing to show signs of improvement despite a slower month of activity in October.

The Real Estate Institute’s (REINZ) October report shows the house price index, which measures the changing value of properties, rose 1.1 percent in October, but down 2.5 percent from a year ago.

The median national house price fell a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent from a year ago and was down just under 1 percent from September, to $795,000.

Sales rose an annual 4 percent, though it was 11 percent lower compared to September, with the biggest rise in activity recorded in Northland, up 31 percent, while Gisborne saw the biggest fall, with sales down 32 percent.

Houses were selling faster, with the median number of days to sell down by 7 days from October 2022, to 37 days.

REINZ chief executive Jen Baird said it was a slow but steady improvement in the market.

“[Real estate agents] are noticing more investors and first home buyers looking to secure properties sharing the market with vendors who are showing a willingness to be realistic with their price expectations,” she said.

“We can see signs of that in the median prices this month.”

Baird said while details of the new government were being finalised, many vendors and buyers showed confidence that it was a better time to sell and a good time to buy.

“The increasing number of listings coming to market is showing a slow, but marked, improvement to the past year, and a renewed confidence from vendors looking to sell with more certainty now the election is behind us,” she said.

Seasonally adjusted median price movements from a year ago: