Housing inventory levels creep lower as would-be sellers watch market

Housing development at Lake Hayes near Queenstown, New Zealand. Photo / Mike Scott

Housing inventory has crept slightly lower as would-be sellers remain cautious about the market.

"With inventory and demand both low, we are currently in a relatively stable price environment," said realestate.co.nz spokeswoman Vanessa Taylor.

The latest stats from Realestate.co.nz and ASB showed new property listings were down 17.5 per cent compared to the same month last year. Average asking prices were down 1.7 per cent nationally, while demand was down 8.5 per cent.

Auckland drove the trend, according to ASB, with new listings falling for the second month in a row and total inventory levels down 12.7 per cent over the month.

Demand for property in Auckland sat at -23.9 per cent, making it the lowest in all of the 19 regions.

"The Auckland market appears to have lost its shine when it comes to potential buyer interest and asking prices have fallen," Taylor said.

ASB said it expects housing activity to remain subdued in the run-up to the election this month.

Five regions bucking the trend for asking prices were Waikato, Wellington, Taranaki, Central Otago Lakes and the Wairarapa.

"The Waikato region paints an interesting picture," said Taylor.

"The record average asking price of $552,707 is offset by a 23.2 per cent fall in the number of new property listings compared to the same period last year, so it could be assumed that asking prices may be impacted by supply and demand pressures," she said.

The Taranaki region recorded a record asking price of $405,105, while Wellington's price was up 2 per cent to $579,243 and Wairarapa had lifted 7.5 per cent to $430,387.

For the first time in history, the Central Otago/Lakes District broke the $900,000 mark in asking price, up 9.1 per cent on the previous month. The average asking price in the region is now $919,460, closely approaching the Auckland region.