Housing in Havelock North. Generic picture. Photo / NZME
Housing in Havelock North. Generic picture. Photo / NZME
Hawke's Bay house prices have continued to decline following another slow month for house sales in April.
While one district in Hawke's Bay bucked the trend, an expert says sellers in the region are increasingly "concerned that they may not achieve the prices they had originally hoped for".
Real EstateInstitute of New Zealand (REINZ) released its monthly housing report last week, which showed 127 homes sold during the month of April across the region.
That was the lowest sales count for any April month since 2011, excluding the nationwide lockdown in April 2020 when the industry came to a halt.
Comparatively, 592 homes have now sold in Hawke's Bay during the first four months of 2022, well down from 811 in the same period last year.
Tougher lending restrictions and increasing interest rates are two of the biggest factors cooling off the market and reducing the number of buyers.
REINZ data has highlighted house prices are also being impacted.
The latest data revealed the median price for houses sold in April across Hawke's Bay was $770,000, down from $796,000 in March and a record $830,000 in November 2021.
Median house price trend in Hawke's Bay up to the end of April. Photo / Supplied
Despite that downward trend one district, Napier, bucked the trend and posted a record median sale price of $900,000 for April.
While those median sale figures are helpful, they do not necessarily give an accurate picture of house price trends, as factors such as the type of homes and properties being sold in any given month can influence the figures.
REINZ uses another tool to better track house price trends called the House Price Index, which takes into consideration a wider range of data.
That index has also highlighted that house prices have been slowly declining in recent months in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne.
REINZ chief executive Jen Baird said securing finance remained a challenge for buyers.
"According to agents in the area, the most significant impact on the market in April was the rise in interest rates and uncertainty around lending conditions," Baird said.
"Buyers are deciding whether they are willing or able to pay the current prices, and vendors are concerned that they may not achieve the prices they had originally hoped for."
Quotable Value Hawke's Bay valuer Damien Hall said people's perceptions were changing in the real estate market.
"There has been a significant rise in the number of listings and properties are taking much longer to sell, though the expectations of some vendors remains high after the rapid growth we experienced last year."
Remarkably, at the end of April, there were about 880 homes on the market in Hawke's Bay compared to 360 homes a year ago.
Number of house sales by month in Hawke's Bay Apr 2022 - 127 Mar 2022 - 173 Feb 2022 - 168 Jan 2022 - 124 Dec 2021 - 214 Nov 2021 - 260 Oct 2021 - 241 Sept 2021 - 207 Aug 2021 - 151 July 2021 - 208 June 2021 - 189 May 2021 - 236 April 2021 - 209 Mar 2021 - 255 Feb 2021 - 226 Jan 2021 - 121 Dec 2020 - 255 Nov 2020 - 271 Oct 2020 - 275 Sept 2020 - 263 Aug 2020 - 255 July 2020 - 282 June 2020 - 243 May 2020 - 160 April 2020 - 41 (country in level 4 lockdown)
