Big drop in mortgagee sales

Mortgagee sales were down by nearly a quarter in June from May, but the decline is being viewed with caution until data comes in from later months.

Company Terralink International said the 202 forced sales in June was 23 percent lower than the 264 mortgagee sales in May.

That did not signal a post-recession recovery for property owners, Terralink managing director Mike Donald said today.

It was important to compare the number of mortgagee sales over a longer time period to identify trends.

"During the first six months of 2009 at the height of the recession there were 1262 mortgagee sales. If you compare that with the same period in 2010 when the recession had reportedly begun to ease there were 1231 mortgagee sales. The difference isn't huge," Donald said.

"We've been seeing record high numbers of mortgagee sales over the past two years and we're not likely to see a sustained decline for some time yet."

Terralink derives its mortgagee sales data from legal registrations of actual mortgagee sales.

- NZPA