PHOTO: Real Estate Agents

OPINION PIECE

As at March 2020, there were 15, 512 active real estate agents in New Zealand. Those numbers have effectively been the same for the past three years. We suggest that due to limited employment prospects post COVID-19 these numbers will not be decimated as much as some may think.

Here are our predictions, as to what the residential real estate agency landscape will possibly look like 2021…

“Whilst our predictions may seem severe – they are in fact mild in the scheme of things. The Auckland real estate market as an example has doubled in price in the last 10 years – a 20% correction is nothing to be concerned about if you have owned an Auckland property for a while. If you have purchased in the last 3 years – then you could be struggling.“

2021

1/ Median Sale Price nationally will fall to $560,000 by May, 2021 – a 15% correction

2/ Average Days On Market will push out from the current 30 days on market to 50 days plus

3/ Queenstown and other resort markets like Taupo etc… will see a massive 30% decline in number of sales. According to the REINZ: The Queenstown Lakes District saw an increase in the median price of 9.7% reaching $1,070,000 in March, 2020. This will come back in $ value over 20% in the coming 12 months

Crisis chills Queenstown’s white-hot property market

4/ Overseas owners are selling up – rather than buying. This will add more to the supply stock, and thus take away from demand.

5/ LVR’s have been dropped by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – but will banks lend money like they were? We doubt it. This will the web page to watch in coming months… NZ Mortgage Approvals. We suggest mortgage approvals will dive in 2020. Less approvals – mean less sales.

6/ There will be less Real Estate offices. In the new world of controlling costs many multi office real estate business owners will consolidate their office costs and merge offices. This will reduce their office footprint – but does that really matter in the modern age of technology? This could be a great opportunity for real estate agencies to stop the office numbers game – and get allot smarter with technology and reduce their costs.

7/ The rise of the DISCOUNT FEE operators. It is possible New Zealand will be introduced to a new real estate brand.

eXp Realty is a global cloud-based agency that has taken the industry by storm

Will the New Zealand Housing Market Crash in 2020?

Median house prices for New Zealand excluding Auckland increased by 13.3% to a new record median price of $555,000, up from $490,000 in March last year. REINZ April, 2020

8/ Property Clock – the Property Correction, that we have not see since 2008 is here…