And it’s not just the flowers that are blooming, with Realestate.co.nz reporting a 31.9% surge in the number of new listings coming onto the market in September. The number of residential houses for sale is now at the highest level it has been for four months.
While this is positive news, we must be mindful that it will take a few weeks for this to translate into sales.
This is why the latest figures from the Real Estate Institute Auckland showed a decrease in the number of properties sold in September, as a direct result of the low numbers of listings experienced in July.
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said, “With July’s listings down by 5.4% year-on-year and an all-time low level of listings in seven regions, it is little wonder that September’s sales volumes were so low.
“There simply weren’t as many properties for sale resulting in a very quiet start to spring.”
Average sales prices have continued the now predictable stable pattern we have seen throughout this year. The average sales price for the Auckland region was $850,000 - the exact same price as in September 2017. Average prices in Auckland City are sitting at $937,000, an increase of 1.8% compared with a year ago.
The continuing stability in the market is good news for buyers, sellers and investors too, as everyone can take comfort in the predictability of where values are sitting. It is unlikely that we will see too much change in the Auckland market over the new few months while demand remains high, interest rates remain low, and prices remain stable.
Bayleys’ latest Marketbeat research newsletter showed has highlighted just how desirable residential properties in Ponsonby and surrounding areas have become over the years.
According to the Bayleys’ research team, in the early 2000s average property values in Ponsonby were sitting at around 35% above the average value of properties in the wider Auckland region. Today, this figure is at more than 90% higher, and is continuing to trend upwards.
While average values in many of Auckland’s regions have been more subdued throughout the course of 2018, Ponsonby’s continue to grow, reflecting both the continuous popularity of the area and the local residents’ determination to retain it as a desirable place to live.
Residential property sales in Ponsonby and surrounding areas, encompassing Freemans Bay, Grey Lynn, Herne Bay, Point Chevalier, St Marys Bay and Westmere, bounced back over the second quarter of 2018. By the end of June sales had increased by 29% compared to the first quarter of the year, outperforming the Auckland region which experienced an 11% increase over the same time period.
Freemans Bay has experienced the largest increase in average values over the last two years, up 33% in the period June 2016 to June 2018. The only suburb to experience a significant decrease was St Marys Bay, with values dropping by 29% between June 2017 and June 2018. However, this decrease has largely been attributed to the large increase in the number of apartment, unit and townhouse sales which have taken place in recent years. (KAREN SPIRES)
Karen Spires AREINZ, M 027 273 8220, E karen.spires@bayleys.co.nz www.karenspires.bayleys.co.nz