Papamoa house sales hit five-year low

By Graham Skellern
House sales in Papamoa have plunged to their lowest level in more than five years after experiencing one of the country's strongest growth spurts.
But the median selling price rose from $355,000 in July to $377,500 in August - $27,500 short of the peak of $405,000 in August last year.
Only 23 residential properties changed hands during the month, representing a quarter of the peak in sales during the boom of the previous two years.
The latest figures reflected a quiet winter on the coastal strip. There were 31 sales in July and 33 in June.
Long-time real estate agent Doug Morris, principal of Professionals Papamoa Realty, said the recent monthly volume was the lowest since the Asian financial crisis in 1997.
"But looking at the August figures, we need to go back pre-Asian crisis."
Mr Morris said he was not fazed by the sales slowdown.
"We have been in the depth of winter and in the grip of an election. There has been a lack of choice over the winter months and more properties are now becoming available.
"There are still a lot of people out there looking and I'm sure sales will pick up - although September doesn't feel any better. I look forward to the days when we are selling 40 to 50 houses a month," he said.
Mr Morris said most of the August sales were in the mid to high $300,000s but they ranged from $230,000 in Beachgrove to $720,000 in Royal Palm Beach.
Papamoa normally shares half the monthly sales with Mount Maunganui. In August, the volume on the coastal strip increased to 88, from 65 in July, and this time the bulk of the sales were at the Mount.
A year ago there were 110 sales at the Mount and Papamoa and two years ago 184.
John O'Donnell, franchise owner of LJ Hooker Mount Maunganui, said the market was still subdued and "maybe we will get into October when there is more spring activity."
He said sales activity increased in late August when the major parties' tax plans were announced - and interest rates had not gone up.
Mr O'Donnell said his office had signed up a sale of a $2.3 million luxury apartment in Grace Ave off the plans.
The improvement in volume of sales was also repeated across the harbour in Tauranga, where 185 properties changed hands, up from 158 in July and similar to the level in August last year.
The median selling price, however, slipped back to $305,000 from $333,000 in July. The median was still $21,500 above the level achieved in August last year.
Gill Beadle, marketing manager for Eves and Bayleys, said fresh listings were coming on to the market and this would spur buyer interest.
"It's just a calm market at the moment, that's how I would describe it," he said.
Nationally, the Real Estate Institute reported a sooner-than-anticipated burst of activity in August. The median selling price reached a new record level of $290,000, compared with $280,000 in July and $248,000 in August last year. The number of sales also jumped from 8213 in July to 8537.
Howard Morley, president of the New Zealand Real Estate Institute, said there was strong demand for higher price properties in August, with almost static sales in houses under $400,000.
He said the market had maintained its confidence and a national median of $300,000 should be achieved sooner rather than later.
Based on percentage terms, the median selling price has climbed the highest in Taranaki, up 34.91 per cent from $160,000 last year to $216,000 in August. The next biggest year-on-year increases were 26.90 per cent in Northland, and 25.23 per cent in Waikato/Bay of Plenty/Gisborne.