Predictions of a dire property market last year did not eventuate. Despite warnings from economists, homeowners kept buying and selling houses.
So, for 2006, the real estate agencies are cautiously optimistic, reporting more realistic vendors and buyers still out hunting. The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand expects the market
to consolidate at current levels.
Howard Morley, president of the institute, reminds us that, "Increases in the second half of the year levelled off, but we expect to see a national median price of $300,000 reached this year." Morley says metropolitan areas outside Auckland - Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, in particular - continue to grow, but the hot prices of lifestyle areas such as Nelson or Hawkes Bay have peaked.
First home buyers in the lower price brackets are still in the market, and the institute does not expect the time it takes to sell to increase much above the current average of about four weeks. Morley anticipates that even second home properties (beach and holiday resorts are a discretionary buy and first to soften in a slowdown) to remain buoyant as there is still an abundance of people wanting their slice of Kiwi paradise and a shortage of properties.
As the key agencies note, the institute sees a trend for homeowners to seek larger properties in line with modern lifestyles - and that demand will get stronger, notes Morley.
