Vendors still not dropping prices - report

Property sellers are sticking to their guns, refusing to drop asking prices in the face of a continuing high stock of unsold houses,
says a new report from a real estate website.

The NZ Property Report is a monthly report of market activity compiled by Realestate.co.nz, a listings website.

It says the average nationwide asking price of sellers in June rose slightly by $2,709 to $410,058, despite inventory levels of unsold houses remaining high at 45.3 weeks, a drop of only 1.7 weeks from the month before..

Inventory is measured by the number of weeks of sales necessary to clear properties on the market at any one time.

Alistair Helm, Realestate.co.nz chief executive said that while the market appeared to "be relatively flat" the numbers showed that metropolitan areas were more active than provincial New Zealand.

Inventory fell more in the three largest cities than the national average, while the number of new listings dropped 11 per cent compared to five per cent nationwide.

Wellington led the pack, with new listings down 18 per cent. Conversely, provincial areas saw listings rise one per cent, with inventory levels remaining high.