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House prices down, housing market, houses, Stuff generic
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New data from a real estate industry body shows the average asking price for a house in Aotearoa has dropped more than 10% in the past 12 months, with a spokesperson saying this could signal an opening for long-jaundiced first home buyers.
Average asking prices for the nation slid nearly 12% from March 2022 to March 2023, from $970,360 to $856,627, according to realestate.co.nz.
The most dramatic shifts were seen in Auckland and Wellington, with asking prices dropping 15.7 percent and 14.1 percent respectively – admittedly from a high base.
It’s worth noting this data refers to asking prices, not sales, and is the average of asking prices, rather than the median.
New listings on the market were also at a record low, which Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Williams said could be good news for first home buyers.
READ MORE:
* National average asking price for NZ homes now over $1 million
* Good news for house buyers: Options double in some areas
* On fire: Auctions are burning up sales
“Firstly, in a hot market, auctions go crazy. Part of the challenge you have typically as a first home buyer is you might be using that wonderful KiwiSaver as part of your deposit, which means it’s a condition of a sale, and auctions mean you cannot be conditional,” Williams told Newsable.
“The shift from a whole bunch of properties being sold at auction to now not being sold by auction means our lovely first home buyers get to have a look in.
“Secondly, there is nothing scarier than buying your first home, and if you have to make a rushed decision because the market’s so hot … it’s quite nerve-wracking. But if you have a slow market like what we’ve got today, you have the opportunity to bring mum along, bring family along.
“And thirdly, prices are – as we said – going backwards. So that means that money you need to stump up is less.”
Only five regions bucked the asking price trend, most notably the Central Otago/Lakes district, where average asking prices rose to nearly $1.5 million, the highest in the country by a large margin.
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