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Hawke’s Bay has recorded a three-year high for the number of homes selling across the region as buyers appear to be “in the mood to buy again”.
A total of 214 homes sold across Hawke’s Bay during August, according to the latest data released by the Real EstateInstitute of NZ (Reinz).
That was the highest monthly figure since December 2021 - which also saw 214 homes sell in the region.
Hawke’s Bay, Northland and the Bay of Plenty led the way in that category for August while, comparatively, there was a slight decrease in sales month-on-month nationwide.
One real estate expert says the rise in buyer activity is good to see in the region but it will likely be “a good few months before we see a turnaround in prices”.
The median house sale price for August in Hawke’s Bay was only $640,000, the lowest median price since October 2020 ($590,000).
Experts say a tough economic climate combined with interest rates still being relatively high, some buyer groups yet to return to the market, such as investors, and even high insurance costs play a part in those low prices.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said buyers appear to be “in the mood to buy again” in Hawke’s Bay and he expected that trend to slowly pick up.
“Buyers seem to be a little more positive about what they see, they can see buying now is probably a good thing with prices being low.”
However, he said “it would be a good few months before we see a turnaround in prices”.
Hawke's Bay has recorded its best month in almost three years for house sales.
“While first-home buyers have a fairly clear field at the moment, people that are usually their strongest competition at those [low] price points are investors, and they are still a little bit more cautious for interest rates to come down ... when that happens, you are going to see prices start to lift.”
Bayleys Hawke’s Bay principal James Macpherson said increased buyer activity was largely due to interest rates “easing ever so slightly”.
“[Buyers] have some confidence interest rates aren’t going to go up through the roof anymore and run away on them, and we have seen some increased activity because of that - which is really good,” he said.
“I don’t think we are going to see values rocket away again, though.
“Values are pretty much on par at where they were in 2020, which everyone at the time thought [were] very reasonable values, so I can’t see them going back to 2022 values, which were based on very, very low interest rates.”
He said it had been a tough period economically for many sectors which also affected house prices.
Macpherson said in the higher end of the market, there had been some good sales recently in Hawke’s Bay in the $3-million-plus range.
Reinz CEO Jen Baird said first-home buyers and owner-occupiers were the most active buyer groups in the region.
Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.
