The median sale price in some suburbs within Manukau have flattened and remain stable with no dramatic changes overall when looking over a 1 year period. Interestingly, Auckland’s median sale time has increased whereas most suburbs in Manukau have decreased.
In contrast, Auckland’s new listings and inventory levels were both up compared to January last year, suggesting buyers have a reasonable choice of homes to buy at present.
Rise in lending activity
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has reported that mortgage lending activity rose again in recently. Mortgage lending flows are likely to remain solid in 2019, but any further increase in activity is likely to be slow and steady rather than dramatic.
The Australian property market versus New Zealand’s?
For anyone concerned whether the Australian property market slump could be reflected here in New Zealand, you’ll be pleased to know that New Zealand’s lending environment is on a solid footing. Why? 80% of New Zealand’s mortgage debt is fixed, with 33% fixed for at least one year. This gives Kiwi households time to adjust before any interest rate increase hits; whereas most lending in Australia is on floating rates, making it much more exposed to any changes.
The recent report from REINZ shows the median price for NZ in June rose by 5.7% to $560,000 up from $530,000 June last year. However, in Auckland the median price decreased by 0.7% year-on-year to $850,000 down from $856,000 last year.
The number of properties sold across the country decreased by 1.6% to 6,034, down from 6,131 in June 2017. Auckland's annual inventory decreased by 2.4% from 8560 to 8356, - the lowest level in the past 9 months.
Bindi Norwell, REINZ chief executive, said: "The lack of housing supply continues to put pressure on prices in the majority of regions across New Zealand, with 12 out of 16 regions seeing a price increase since June last year. Until we solve the supply issue, house prices are likely to continue rising, particularly as the OCR remains low and the banks continue dropping interest rates."