Wellington property values drop, homes taking twice as long to sell

Properties are taking twice as long to sell. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The time it takes to sell a house in Wellington has doubled – and that's just the properties that are selling.

CoreLogic's latest data shows property values are on the downturn across the country, with Wellington recording a 0.8 per cent drop in the last month.

Marty Richie, the general manager of Harcourts, told the Herald the drop has been noticeable.

"It started back in October, November when things stated to slow slightly, then we came back after Christmas and there was definitely a lot of change in the marketplace."

While high-end properties are still selling fast, the sale of lower and middle-priced properties is slowing.

Richie says the number of days it takes to sell a home is up to 48 days.

"And that was only for the ones that sold," he says.

"It doesn't give a true reflection yet of how long things are taking because there's so much stock on the market."

Craig Lowe, managing director of Lowe and Co, says the time it takes to sell has almost doubled from an average time of 20 days, to the current average of 40.

Lowe says the increase is not necessarily caused by increased supply, but by lessened demand.

"As they don't sell, it balloons the supply out."

He says the change is just returning the market to a more normal state, rather than the red-hot, highly competitive market that New Zealand has witnessed in the last few years.

"It was never sustainable to have 30 per cent property gains - this is more a traditional property market."

It could be good news for people looking to buy, according to CoreLogic head of NZ research Nick Goodall.

"As properties stay on the market longer and expectations of weaker conditions ahead grow, buyers are finding themselves in a stronger negotiation position, with more time and leverage than at any stage in the last couple of years."