Welcome to this weeks wrap on North Shore property.
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Well after a pretty uneventful month on the Shore in terms of the property market, this report is a little boring!
The biggest thing I can think of this month, is the new Meth report which I discussed last week and we are still waiting for the new standards to be released. If you missed that article, get to my blog on kriscunningham.co.nz
In terms of Market Performance I could have almost just Ctrl C’d April & Ctrl V’d it into May and head off to kids Rugby, that’s about how much it has changed. But I haven’t I’ve tried to give you some insight and add a little value for you, although if you decide to get on with your morning at this point, I wouldn’t blame you.
In This Week’s Market Wrap:
– Median prices pretty flat
– Volumes continue to fall on the Shore
– New listings & total inventory slow
– Over 20 weeks of stock available on the shore
– Auction clearance rates stable
Market Performance
A 2% rise after a 2% drop across Auckland and 0% change on the Shore – yes it’s still pretty flat in terms of prices. The one to watch is volume. After a strong January and February we thought the continued falls in the level of property sold across Auckland and the Shore over the past 24 months had stabilised, but recent months tell a different story with consecutive falls of 20%, 9% and now another 9% in May on the Shore, and remember this is a reduction on 2 years of reductions, so we are heading to some pretty skinny territory. To find a positive across Auckland volumes were up 9% for the second consecutive month, with just March this year posting a negative – so that’s a good sign and hopefully here on the Shore things will pick up to match what is happening across the whole City.
New listings have dropped as well in-line with the low volumes, and as we head into the winter months the level of stock available has steadily declined with just over 1600 properties now available on the Shore on realestate.co.nz. (This was over 1800 a couple of months back).
However we still have about 20 weeks of stock available – which is well up on the 12 weeks or so during the heat of the market. And to give you come context, Wellington is trucking along nicely posting some great gains, and the reason, they have about 8 weeks of stock. The more stock available, the more the power shifts to the buyers. Why? Because they have more choice. The only thing countering this is yes they have more choice, but a lot of the stock isn’t that good – and good properties are still selling really well, often for great prices.
So I still don’t think it is a buyers market as the figures would suggest, mainly because there isn’t exactly a lot of great property available, vendors know that prices aren’t going down, and buyers know they aren’t going up. So what we are seeing is an awkward middle ground where buyers are having to pay fair, and vendors are having to take fair – which to be honest neither of them really want but that is the reality of it.
The only deals we are seeing are from Vendors that are either getting poor advice or pressure from their agents (yes I know…) or Vendors that have put themselves under time pressure constraints that need to force a sale.
So – in a nutshell – it’s still a stable and well balanced market, offering good opportunities for both buyers & sellers. Sorry yes that was a Ctrl C & V job. We need to continue to watch the sales volumes, inventory and level of new listings though – if the inventory levels get any further out, we may start to see changes. Our predictions are that we won’t see much of all changing in the near future though.
Cooper & Co Auctions
I’m about to give up making weekly predictions on clearance rates – with low volumes they can be all over the place but across the month, well for us during May 42%, April 42% & believe it or not, March it was 42% and February 39%. So despite some big variances week in week out even the clearance rates are that boring word I seem to be using so much these days – stable. Our big competitor on the other hand, 38%, 23%, 34%, & 43% respectively. Not so stable.
You know who to talk to if you want consistent performers offering better odds.
New Listings
Covered this above.
Off-Market Opportunities
Be sure to get in touch for more details we have a couple on our books.
Rothesay Bay – A tidy, modern brick & tile unit – $700k +
Greenhithe – A large 300sqm do-up, one heck of a project, but huge potential – mid $1’s
Sunnynook – A relatively flat section in Double Westlake Zone
Castor Bay – A flat rear site of around 400sqm with AMAZING sea views & plans
Coming Soon
We’ve been busy, and we have plenty of new listings in the pipeline and coming soon, be sure to check out our website for current listings, or get in touch about anything detailed below.
Milford – It’s a secret – but if your looking for new & luxury, give me a call
Browns Bay – A Brand New 6 Bedroom Home
Northcote – A gorgeous 3 bed bungalow
Forrest Hill – An entry level 3 bedroom home
Takapuna – A sunny semi-detached townhouse
Greenhithe – A super spacious one level home
Browns Bay – A gorgeous renovated townhouse
Castor Bay – A beautiful large modern family home
Takapuna – Mixed Use Opportunity, great home or office
Campbells Bay – Brand new townhouses off the plans
Sunnynook – A brand new family home on a freehold site
Sunnynook – A nicely renovated 3 bedroom home
So really, same old same old. Thanks for your time, have a fantastic weekend & GO THE ALL BLACKS!!! And the Irish! 😉
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