Number of Hawke's Bay properties sold drops to 4-year-low as prices climb in 'seller's market'

The number of Hawke's Bay's property sales have dropped 26 per cent but prices are still rising in what one expert says is a "seller's market" with plenty of buyers.

210 homes were sold in Hawke's Bay in June, a drop of 26.8 per cent on June 2018's 277.

Not since June 2015 have their been so few homes sold according to the data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

Tremains general manager Stuart Christensen said the drop could be the start of the market levelling off after strong growth, but there are still more buyers than there are sellers.

"Hawke's Bay like so many other regions was playing catch-up for the past four years which saw prices rise and sale volumes really did take off giving us good growth like some of the bigger regions," he said.

Although sale numbers might have levelled off prices seem to continue to keep a strong trend with median prices in Hawke's Bay increasing by 10.5 per cent on June 2018.

But Christensen says that when it comes to the houses selling they are seeing no issues.

"The Hawke's Bay market is very much a sellers' market where we have low stock numbers but plenty of buyers which is really causing that supply and demand in the market."

The number of residential properties sold across New Zealand in June fell by 3.8 per cent from the same time last year to 5978 - down from 6213.

For New Zealand excluding Auckland, the number of properties sold fell by 4.0 per cent when compared to the same time last year, going from 4334 properties to 4159.

Christensen says that the drop in volume could also be a short-term problem as generally winter months are slower, which could lead to a steady pick up in the spring.

"With the demand we have, I believe that when we head into spring we can see it pick up again, especially if we keep this trend we have now we can see a real spring back into spring."

Chief executive at REINZ, Bindi Norwell, said that although this drop-off in June was the lowest in some time, recent numbers from around the country haven't made for surprising results.

"The number of properties sold in New Zealand during June was the lowest for the month of June in five years. However, with new listings down 7.3 per cent on the same time last year, and record new listing lows set for Northland, Taranaki, West Coast, Southland and parts of the Waikato, it's not entirely surprising," Norwell said.

"Feedback from parts of the country is that some people are reluctant to list their property for sale without somewhere to move to and with fewer listings coming on to the market, it's slowing down the property cycle and impacting sales volumes. When you combine that with the difficulty some buyers are still reporting over access to finance, it is understandable why sales volumes are falling across most parts of New Zealand."