Record high average asking prices in many regions, though new listings fall

Bay of Plenty breaks $500,000 ceiling in average asking price, with Waikato, Wellington, Canterbury and Central Otago also reaching new record highs

A number of regions across the country experienced new record highs in average asking price in January, though this was off the back of a record low in inventory and a decline in new listings, according to data from realestate.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest website dedicated to property.

Brendon Skipper, Chief Executive of realestate.co.nz, says “National inventory in January hit a new all time low of 14.7 weeks. The previous all-time low was 16.1 weeks set in October 2015. In addition, the total number of new listings across the country in January was 8,144, down 14.6% compared to the same month a year ago. The record highs in average asking price in a number of regions need to be seen in the context of fewer listings and tightening inventory.”

The national average asking price in January was $542,514, up 3.7% from December and ending a four month consecutive decline, though still short of the all time high of $568,215 set in August 2015. The average asking price in Auckland fell 2.3% to $828,629 in January from $848,195 in December, though Auckland also experienced a decline in listings of 18.4% from the same month last year.

Eight regions of New Zealand experienced new record highs in average asking price in January. In particular, Central Otago reached $861,723, the highest average asking price of any region, and an increase of 4.5% from the previous high of $824,394 set in December, though new listings were down 35% from January last year.

Bay of Plenty reached a new high of $501,961, up 3% from the previous high of $487,052 set in November, and only the fourth region in the country to break the $500,000 ceiling. New listings for the region in January were down 7.6% from a year ago.

Other parts of the country to experience new record highs in average asking price include Wellington, Canterbury, Waikato, Taranaki, Coromandel and Southland, most however also experienced a decline in new listings from the same time last year.

Wellington reached a new all time high in average asking price of $489,029 in January, up 2% from the previous high of $479,399 set in August last year, while new listings were down 16.9%. Canterbury experienced a new record of $483,233, up 1.3% from the previous high set in September, with new listings down 13.6% from the same month last year.

Waikato’s new record high in average asking price was $440,784, up 6.3% from the previous high set last month of $414,596. The new record in Taranaki was $373,668, up 1% from the previous high of $369,791 set in February 2015, while Southland ‘s new high was $276,924, up 3.9% from the previous high of $266,398 set in January last year. New listings in January for all three regions were down from the same month last year.

Coromandel reached a new high of $574, 271, an increase of 3.6% from the previous high of $554,303 set in November. It was one of the few regions to experience a small increase in the number of new listings of 1.1% from January last year.

Inventory is a measure of the national supply of homes for sale, expressed as the number of weeks it would take for all currently listed properties to sell at average rates, should no new properties get listed. The long-term national average is 34 weeks.