'Tip in the scales': House prices starting to fall in Hawke's Bay

House prices in Hawke's Bay are starting to drop. Photo / Paul Taylor

An expert says the Hawke's Bay housing market has reached a tipping point as the latest data reveals house prices are starting to fall in the region.

Just 172 homes sold across Hawke's Bay last month, the lowest March sales since 2008, when 164 homes sold, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

That is despite plenty of homes being listed for sale with almost twice the number of homes on the market compared with this time last year.

REINZ also revealed in its monthly report released on Thursday that the median house price had fallen during three of the past four months in Hawke's Bay.

The median house price for homes sold during March was $780,000, compared with a record median house price of $830,000 for homes sold in November.

While a longer period will give a much clearer and more accurate picture of changing house prices in the region, REINZ also uses another tool to track house price trends.

It publishes a House Price Index, which takes into consideration a wide range of data.

That index has also highlighted that house prices are beginning to decline in Hawke's Bay and Gisborne.

REINZ chief executive Jen Baird said there was a shift happening in Hawke's Bay with lower demand and high supply of homes for sale.

"Hawke's Bay is seeing a tip in the scales between supply and demand," she said.

"With buyer demand subdued, March saw the median days to sell increase."

Quotable Value registered valuer Damien Hall said the Hawke's Bay housing market had "plateaued".

"We're seeing an increased number of listings across the board, but activity has completely slowed across the lower-to-mid end of the market, largely due to banks' continued tight lending and increased interest rates," he said.

"The upper quartile is still showing some positives with cash buyers present, but overall prices have decreased slightly across the board."

Number of house sales by month in Hawke's Bay
Mar 2022 - 172
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)
March 2020 - 238