New listings reach record levels
With Waitangi Day now in the rear-view mirror, the housing market will be gearing up for another summer of sales. Historically, February and March are two of real estate’s busiest months, so what’s in store? This time last year, nearly 13,000 new residential listings hit the market, taking the total number of homes for sale above the 40,000 mark.
While there was a lift in buying activity, the abundance of listings combined with the pressure of high interest rates and economic gloom triggered another market slump.
Mortgage cuts in the second half of 2024 have done a decent job of arresting that decline, but my gut feeling at the end of 2024 was there would be little chance of another listings spike in 2025. Home-sellers have proved me wrong, with new listings in January reaching record levels. An extra 10,000 residential properties hit the market nationwide – an annual jump of 17%, and up 43% on January 2023. In the last five days of January alone, nearly 3000 new homes were listed on OneRoof. Sellers are clearly betting on a busy end to the summer.
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Are buyers going to join the party?
The million-dollar question for the industry and anxious sellers is: Are buyers ready to buy? January figures from Barfoot & Thompson cautiously suggest yes, with the agency’s sales up 38.9% annually. The results of Ray White’s mega auction in South Auckland at the end of the month also indicate buyer appetite has returned, with 30 of the 46 properties on the slate selling under the hammer.
The sweet spot, in Auckland at least, is under $1m, but there have been some stellar sales at the upper end of the market. Ray White agent Ross Hawkins sold Dame Jenny Gibbs’ mansion for an eight-figure sum and told OneRoof that he had noted a lift in inquiries since the start of the year. And Bayleys agents Julie and Trent Quinton and Dominique Donaghy announced on LinkedIn this week their sale of one of 2024’s most popular listings – the “Batman” penthouse with the dancing pole in the Metropolis. But before we get too excited, projections for house price growth this year remain modest, though.
Ray White agent Ross Hawkins has found a buyer for Dame Jenny Gibbs’ striking Auckland mansion. Photo / Alex Burton
One of last year’s most popular listings, the "Batman" penthouse at the Metropolis, has been sold, Bayleys has announced. The listing agents were Julie and Trent Quinton and Dominique Donaghy. Photo / Supplied
Bummer week for Wellington homeowners
Wellington City’s new RVs hit the headlines this week, including the front page of the New Zealand Herald. The value of homes in the capital dropped 24.4% since the last council valuations were taken, in September 2021. Materially, the new RVs shouldn’t have any long-term impact on the capital’s housing market – they were taken in September last year and the market has improved a bit in the last three months – but psychologically they’ll be devastating for many homeowners. Expect to see a lot of anger and a flurry of challenges.
I also expect, just because of how misunderstood RVs are, to see some headaches at open homes over the next few weekends. There will be some wags asking vendors to cut their prices by 24%. It’ll be a hard one for the council to explain to ratepayers as well.
OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan: "Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been known to attend the opening of real estate offices in his Remuera patch." Photo / Fiona Goodall
Rates gamble - is it worth it?
The big rate question on every mortgage-holders’ lips – mine included – is: When and how long? In his latest column for OneRoof, Tony Alexander makes the case for fixing now and for going long. He called it correctly when the five-year rate was 2.99% so it’s worth considering his arguments.
“There is little chance realistically that people like myself will accurately pick when the cyclical lows for different interest rates arrive and what those rate levels will be.
“This means borrowers should lean more toward fixing mortgage rates for longer rather than taking a punt. After all, banks don’t take punts on interest rates at all outside the walls of their tightly controlled dealing rooms.”
Real estate's in the House
Finally, ACT leader David Seymour announced his engagement to his long-term partner, Alexandra Vincent Martelli this week. Martelli is the founder of Auckland real estate company Martelli & Co, a buying agency based in the city’s affluent eastern bay suburbs. It’s interesting to note just how close real estate and New Zealand’s leading politicians are, in a way you just don’t see in Australia and the UK (the US would be the exception right now, for obvious reasons). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been known to attend the opening of real estate offices in his Remuera patch and former PM Sir John Key was known to drop in on real estate offices around the country. It goes to show just how passionate Kiwis are about their homes.
- Owen Vaughan is editor of OneRoof.co.nz. You can contact him with any property tips or story ideas at [email protected]
