July’s new listings down 15% on year

The lack of available property on the market could prompt upward price pressure, see buyers exit the market or both, according to the Realestate.co.nz July report.

Friday, August 5th 2011, 12:00AM

by The Landlord

The report says as the level of listings remains low the level of inventory of unsold properties on the market is also edging down.

"This low level of supply, if not met by a rise in supply in the short term could result in either or both price pressure upwards or disillusioned buyers exiting the market."

While this trend has spread nationwide, the report cites Auckland as the epicenter with the lowest amount of available inventory since 2007.

"Auckland currently has just over five-and-a-half months of available inventory based on the recent rate of sale, not since September 2007 has the region seen this level," the report said.

In July the level of new listings fell to 8,966, a 15% fall on the year earlier but 1% above June.

On a 12 month moving basis the number of new listings in the past year totals 124,228 against 145,733 for the same period a year ago.

July also saw a significant fall in the mean asking price for new listings, down from June’s $415,053 to $403,474.

Across the major centres Auckland saw a 2% fall in the mean asking price in July, down from $535,039 in June to $522,803, and a 2% fall in new listings from 3,092 to 3,031.

In the capital the mean asking price fell 1% from June's $419,427 to $413,460 while the number new listings was down 10% from 734 to 664.

In Canterbury the mean asking price was down 1% from $353,652 to $349,608, though new listings bucked the national trend and rose 17% from 1,001 to 1,175.

In Waikato the average asking price fell 6% from $357,000 to $337,185, while the number of new listings was down 7% from 592 to 551.

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