Number of house sales drop across Bay of Plenty

Mike and Maree Lourie have their beachfront property on the market in Pukehina and say they are confident in the market. Photo/ Supplied

The number of houses sold in the Bay of Plenty has fallen since this time last year but real estate managers say the market is "back to normal."

Figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand compared the number of houses sold from October 2016 to October of this year.

This showed a decrease across the region with a 50 per cent drop in the Western Bay of Plenty, a 9.6 per cent drop in Tauranga, a 22.9 per cent drop in Rotorua and a decrease of 6.3 per cent in Whakatane.

In Tauranga, there were 226 houses sold last month and last October there were 250.

In the Western Bay, there were 36 houses sold compared to 72 during October the year before.

Pukehina residents Maree and Mike Lourie have had their beachfront property on the market for less than a month but were confident they would make a successful sale.

Maree Lourie said the couple built their home 15 years ago but it was time to downsize as they look towards their retirement.

"I'm confident in the market right now and confident in our house," she said.

Simon Anderson, Eves and Bayleys Realty Group chief executive, said the decrease in house sales in the Western Bay of Plenty and Tauranga was the market "normalising."

"If we look back to last year, the market hit its peak especially in rural areas like the Western Bay of Plenty.

"We saw an extraordinary number of sales which has now slowed back to a normalised market."

Anderson said the market in Tauranga had been steadier which was why the decrease was not as significant as the Western Bay of Plenty.

"Last year Tauranga had already hit its peak in August and September and the Western Bay was lagging a little. We had a very big market last year and now we are back to a normal number of transactions."

Anderson said the type of buyers had changed in Tauranga which contributed to the decrease in house sales.

"We're not seeing as many investors this year. What we are experiencing is a lot of first home buyer activity."

Harcourts managing director Nigel Martin said the uncertainty of the new Government took "confidence out of buyers" but the market was now "back to normal".

Martin said the median house prices for Tauranga had not changed dramatically which showed a "steady, stable market."

"The Spring increase of listings took longer to happen this year ... but across all of our markets we have seen an increase in listings of 20 per cent in the past five weeks."

Ray White Te Puke owner Rochelle Carter said, despite the decrease in sales, the market was looking "steady".

"The decrease is all down to the fickle weather," she said.

Carter said the consistent rain the region had experienced affected the number of open homes conducted in the month of October and the number of people visiting the open homes.

Decreases in house sales

-Tauranga down 9.6 per cent
-Western Bay of Plenty down 50 per cent
-Rotorua down 22.9 per cent
-Whakatane down 6.3 per cent