It's a good time to buy property in the Bay of Plenty but a recent drop in prices might not last long if fewer properties are listed, real estate experts say.
Listing website Realestate.co.nz reported yesterday in its monthly NZ Property Report there were 681 new property listings in the Bay of Plenty in April 2013, which was 264 fewer (-28 per cent) than the previous month.
Karen Worley of Realty Services, which operates Bayleys and Eves Realty, said there had been a positive number of listings over the summer months and a drop in listings was "bound to happen" as the season changed.
"The market has been very active where the best time to sell low to medium priced houses is generally September, October and November where people are quite determined to sell at this time of year. Leading into winter traditionally people think twice about putting their properties on the market.
"But in saying that the market is steady ... and there is still a lot of buyers out there looking for a property."
According to the report, last month the average asking price of Bay houses was $415,066 - down nearly $17,000 on the previous month - but that did not mean sellers had dropped their prices, it meant more lower to mid-range houses had sold, she said.
"The majority of houses selling now are under $430,000, which is on the higher side for Tauranga. But I think it's fair to say that if there are more sales in the lower end of the market and fewer in the higher end this can alter the mean quite significantly."
Harcourts managing director Simon Martin said house prices would remain low if there was enough supply but once there was more demand, prices would also increase.
"On the whole, market activity has increased compared to the past two years where we haven't seen a huge amount of increase in prices."
"Sales volume last month was 163 in Tauranga and 123 in Mount Maunganui and Papamoa and that was up on March where in Tauranga there were 149 sales so it's a decent increase of about 10 per cent and it's positive news for buyers and sellers."
Latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show the median length of time it took to sell a house in Tauranga was 54 days and 50 days in Mount Maunganui.
LJ Hooker Tauranga franchise owner Neville Falconer said well-priced properties in favourable areas such as Otumoetai were snapped up quickly. He said others remained on the market for "a while".
"It all reflects what buyers are looking for at the time. Ones that are snapped up quickly don't necessarily mean they were priced too cheaply, however there are properties that have been on the market for a while and there's generally a reason for it. If the home is sound, priced well and in a good location then it's going to be popular with buyers."
Homeowner Greg Stewart said interest had been positive on his Highgrove Pl property since he listed it on Trade Me on April 13.
At 6pm last night his Trade Me page advertising his four bedroom home for $473,000 had been viewed more than 1330 times.
"It's only been on a couple of weeks so it's still early ... but I think it will sell because it's an area that sells reasonably well. For Bethlehem not many houses sell under $500,000 so I think it's quite reasonable."
From a buyer's perspective the market was strong and there were "quite a few options" available at the moment, he said.