Welcome to this months market wrap on North Shore property.
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Happy Labour weekend, I hope you’ve managed to get away with your families, or at the very least get out and enjoy this beautiful weather that we are being blessed with this morning – let’s hope it stays this way all weekend! I may even have to get the water-toys out for the first post winter blast!
As we approach the final few listing weeks of the year, we can expect to see a surge in new stock hitting the market – we have 6 properties ourselves launching in the next 2-3 weeks, and the office is busy as well. The big question – will their be demand? And what will the market look like once the OIA changes come into effect on Monday. More on that below.
In This Week’s Market Wrap
– Monthly Wrap – September Results
– Auction clearance rates
– OIA Changes (Foreign Buyer Ban) starts Labour Day
– Off Market & Coming Soon
Market Performance – September 2018
Volume of Sales – Well actually month to month the volume of sales plummeted as a result of very low listing levels in July. Year on year though, it was a reduction of 4% on the Shore which isn’t as bad, because we actually saw the same thing happen last year. Although this time last year there was a pretty big thing going on in NZ which was effecting the market, and the country for that matter. This year – not so much. It will be very interesting to see what sort of demand we have post the holidays and Labour weekend as we close in on the final stretch toward Christmas.
Median Prices – Well, I have to report the same as last month unfortunately. Whilst we did see a resurgence in median prices on the Shore back up to around $980,000, this is still down year on year. So let’s focus on the positive news, across Auckland prices remained flat and stable, and across the country we are still seeing growth at around 6%. I still don’t believe there is any arguing that on the Shore prices in some respects have slipped slightly in some areas and price brackets, but the sky certainly isn’t falling.
Days on Market – This actually tightened as a result of lower stock levels, or should I say, lower levels of new stock coming to the market. It cut back to just 38 days in September which is pretty good. I imagine it will slip out again with all the new stock coming to the market these next few weeks.
Stock Availability – Stock availability is continuing to climb with properties in the mid 1700’s now available on the Shore on realestate.co.nz. This is comparable to the summer months and to be expected for this time of year. Again the big question, will we see a resurgence in demand.
Cooper & Co Auctions
Over the past two weeks, Harcourts Cooper & Co have called 70 Auctions, selling 30 under the hammer at a rate of 43%. Which is a reasonable couple of weeks. We even achieved 65% three weeks ago, which was pretty amazing.
Barfoot & Thopson called 71 Auctions over the past 2 weeks, they sold 14, in total, under the hammer. That’s a clearance rate of 19%.
The current combined 4 week average of both companies sits around 38% – which isn’t too bad, and is held up off the back of 4 strong weeks in a row from the Harcourts team.
Overseas Investment Act Changes
The new overseas investment regime comes into force this Monday 22nd October. From this date, overseas people generally won’t be able to buy residential land/property in New Zealand unless they have a residence class visa and intend to live here. There are some exemptions for Australian & Singaporean people. If you want to know more click here for a good tool that helps determine eligibility.
Every residential land sale will require a ‘Residential Land Statement’ which asks purchasers to confirm their eligibility to buy. Everyone, including New Zealanders, will need to complete the statement before their conveyancer can complete the transaction.
What does it mean for Buyers Now? Real estate agents now need to check eligibility BEFORE you purchase. At Harcourts we will be asking you to complete a ‘Purchaser’s Acknowledgement Form’ BEFORE signing a contract, or bidding at Auction. I’m assuming other brands will be doing something similar.
How will these changes effect the market? I’m just going to re-write what I’ve already said before and let’s see if I have to eat my hat in the coming weeks.
Remember Chinese Buyers have been out of the market for some time, so in comparison to how strong they once were it’s fair to say the market is already operating with relatively normal levels of local interest. So we can’t see any drastic change being achieved by these changes as they are essentially, too little too late, yet a great topic for the politicians.
The reality is that the day to day business of real estate will continue – and the great news is that these new changes in legislation give great security and surety to our sellers. Will it affect volume and price? Possibly – but in a country where we are consistently short on stock for purchasers and where normality in seasonal selling cycles seems to have returned – life will go on – the market is the market is the market.
And I’m sorry but those young and first home buyers hoping for a correction to increase housing affordability – this just isn’t going to do it.
Coming Soon
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.
Takapuna – A sunny semi-detached townhouse (next week)
Mairangi Bay – A luxury 5 bedroom home of over 400sqm of solid masonry construction, right in the heart of Mairangi Bay village. (2 weeks)
Northcote – A large 5 bedroom family home (2 weeks)
Sunnynook – A nicely renovated 3 bedroom home (2 weeks)
Forrest Hill/Milford – A renovated entry level 3 bedroom home (2 weeks)
Mairangi Bay – A fully renovated one level family home on the flat (3 weeks)
Takapuna – Mixed Use Opportunity, great home or office
Sunnynook – A brand new family home on a freehold site
That’s it from me, if you have any questions as always just give me a call, otherwise enjoy your long weekend and if your away or heading away, please be safe on our roads.
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