PHOTO: Vanessa Taylor, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz
Fewer listings in the month of March due to nationwide lockdown but serious buyers are still active. Record asking price highs began in 2007 and are still seen around the country. The real estate industry adapts to COVID-19 pandemic.
Real-time data from realestate.co.nz indicates that Kiwis hit pause on selling their homes at the end of March as the industry adapted to a temporary period of disruption. Nationally, new listings coming onto the market in the month of March were down 16.5% on the same time last year. The drop reflects the impact that Alert Level 4 has had on numerous industries, including the property market.
Despite the lockdown, average asking prices around the country, however, remained buoyant in March with eight all-time highs since records began 13 years ago.
Vanessa Taylor, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz, says that it will be a waiting game to see what the property market does in the face of COVID-19. However, she says that buyers and sellers have remained active, with average time on the website increasing significantly since the lockdown was put in place.
“For many Kiwis, this is a good time to get their property in front of potential buyers who are spending more time looking at property online. It is also a good time for Kiwis searching for something new to look carefully at what is available,” says Vanessa.
She adds that floorplans, 3D walkthroughs and video content will be even more important for sellers during this time when homes cannot be viewed in person.
New listings drop nationally after a busy start to 2020 for vendors
New listings coming onto the market were down 16.5% nationally in March compared to the same time last year. Coinciding with New Zealand moving into Alert Level 3 and Alert Level 4, most of the decline in new listings occurred in the last week of March.
Regionally, the biggest decreases were in Northland and the Coromandel which dropped back by 34.5% and 33.1% respectively.
This follows a busy start to 2020 for many vendors. In February, 12 of 19 regions saw a lift in new homes coming onto the market, signalling a potential market shift across the country. In comparison, only three regions this March saw a lift in new listings.
Vanessa says that while people can put their homes on the market during Alert Level 4, she believes that some people may wait to list their homes due to the logistical challenges a lockdown brings.
“I suspect that many Kiwis, whether they are planning to list now or after the Alert Level 4 period, will be making the smart decision to prepare their homes for sale now.”
The regions who saw new listings increase during March were Central Otago/Lakes, Taranaki and Wairarapa, with increases of 18.2%, 10.0% and 8.7% respectively.
“New listings coming onto the market have been down in Taranaki since December 2019 so, although the total homes for sale in the region is still down on last year, it is nice to see some activity in the region,” says Vanessa.
Eight all-time asking price highs
Although the country is in lockdown, we did still see some regions hit all-time asking price highs around the country in March.
Nationally, the average asking price increased by 5.0% on the same time last year to a record high of $711,696 – just slightly above the nation’s last recorded high of $710,393 in January 2020.
READ MORE VIA REALESTATE.CO.NZ
