Photo: RNZ
House sellers are increasingly willing to meet the market to get their properties sold, the Real Estate Institute says.
Its figures for April show the housing market slowed, which acting chief executive Rowan Dixon said was to be expected with cooler weather and the public holidays.
The median price of its members' sales declined year-on-year by 1.1 percent to $781,000 in April.
Auckland's median price dropped 4 percent.
On the institute's house price index measure, which smooths out variations in median price data caused by the types of properties being sold, a number of centres have now recorded growth of less than 2.5 percent a year over the past five years, a period which spans the market peak when prices were rising at double-digit percentage rates.
Over five years, central Auckland's prices are up only 1.7 percent a year and Wellington's 1.5 percent.
Overall, prices are 15.3 percent below their peak although Southland is already back to record levels. Prices were down 0.3 percent year-on-year on a national basis by this measure.
The number of properties sold lifted 9.5 percent year-on-year in April but Dixon said the number of properties available was keeping the lid on prices.
"There's still quite a bit of stock on the market - 36-odd thousand up and down the country, only slightly down on what it was last month."
He said if sellers' expectations could drop a bit more, it would help to get the market moving. "But they are certainly meeting the market… There is a bit of underlying momentum."
The number of days to sell was flat year-on-year in April at 42.
There were fewer properties listed for sale in April compared to March and the same time a year earlier.
Drop in licence numbers
Real Estate Authority data shows a drop in the number of active real estate licences in recent years, from 16,053 in April 2023 to 15,517 this year.
Dixon said the number had stabilised in the past year, but it was a tough environment for some to operate in.
"It's building a level of resilience you'd expect to see in seasoned sales professionals, it's harder for the new ones."
He said if first-home buyers were looking for a chance to get into the property market, it was a good time to do so.
"There is still plenty of stock there, particularly in the main centres, good pricing and low interest rates… if people can get into the market for their first home now is a good time to do it before maybe things start to pick up a bit more."
'Gap is narrowing'
Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said the data showed a continued gradual recovery.
"The house price index rose by 0.4 percent in seasonally adjusted terms, a modest pickup from the 0.1-0.2 percent gains in each of the previous five months. While prices are still down on the same time a year ago, the gap is narrowing.
"Canterbury and Southland continue to see steady gains, and prices are higher compared to a year ago. There's also been more of a pickup in the upper North Island, especially Auckland, in recent months. The rest of the country remains subdued, with Wellington still seeing monthly price declines.
"House sales were down slightly in seasonally adjusted terms, though the usual undercount on the first release means that these will probably be revised to be flat. Sales have been gradually trending higher over the last two years, bringing them back to around their long-run average level."
Gordon said price growth should pick up through the rest of this year.
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