'Heaps of supply': Over 900 listings in cooling Hawke's Bay property market

Ray White Hastings managing director Elanor MacDonald says the property market is all cyclical. Photo NZME

By Thomas Airey

Hawke's Bay realtors say vendors are beginning to understand the shifting housing market, with sales volumes up month-to-month in the region.

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand's monthly property report shows the median house price for the 190 Hawke's Bay houses sold in May 2022 was $730,000, the same as it was in May 2021.

Sales volume increased by 47.3 per cent from April's count of 129 residential properties, but year-on-year May still saw a 19.5 per cent decrease from last year's 236 houses sold that month.

Property Brokers regional manager Joe Snee said business certainly picked up in May after a disastrous April sales count.

"It shows people who are selling their houses are starting to realise that they've got to accept the prices that are out there, it's not what it was over the last two years," he said.

"There's heaps of supply, over 900 houses in Hawke's Bay on the market."

Median house prices for Napier City mirrored the wider region's year-on-year stagnation, remaining at $750,000 in May.

Hastings District's median rose 3.3 per cent from $750,000 in May 2021 to $775,000 in May 2022.

The median house price in Central Hawke's Bay was $580,000 in May 2022, up 11.5 per cent on the previous year.

Snee said he thinks sale volumes will continue to be a challenge as the market transitions to a new norm over the next few months.

"It's gone from the fear of missing out on a property to a real fear of overpaying, so buyers are sitting on their hands going 'I think if I wait I'll get a better price'," he said.

"There are still buyers out there, and there's heaps of stock on the market to buy, it's just swinging from a seller's market to a buyer's market."

Ray White Hastings managing director Elanor MacDonald said it's all cyclical.

"What we saw at the end of last year was a very sharp peak, then we saw a sharp drop at the start of this year. If you evened it out, unless you were in the market over that specific period of time, it's back to where it was," she said.

MacDonald said the loosening of limits on first home grants and loans is bringing some potential buyers back to the property market after they were left disheartened by missing out on their first home last year.

"I have heard through a couple of mortgage brokers that they're starting to see these same people coming back for a new pre-approval," she said.

"If you were looking to buy, and you didn't know what was coming ahead, and you could borrow the money, I think now is a splendid time to be buying."

The median days to sell figure for Hawke's Bay increased by 22 days from May 2021 to May 2022.

Nationally, the number of residential property sales decreased annually by 28.4 per cent from 7,758 in May 2021 to 5,556.

Nelson was the only region to see an annual increase in sales.

Across New Zealand, median prices for residential property increased by 2.4 per cent annually, from $820,000 in May 2021 to $840,000 in May 2022.