Another month of records: national average asking price is now $900,671, with the lowest housing stock since records began 14 years ago.
When the lockdown began on the 18th of August, we were coming out of the usual low volume of listings that we experience every winter. Instead of going into our busiest time of the year the only properties we put on the market were new builds, selling off the plans. With everyone seemingly using the time to shop for a home we had a mini boom of new build sales, which has continued post lockdown.
While during this time, newbuilds were coming to the market in a flurry, the listings as a whole saw another month of record-low stock in August, both nationally and here in the Hutt Valley. Locally there were 32% less houses to buy since this time last year.
With the Lockdown behind us here in Wellington and vendor confidence back to normal levels, we could see a swell of pent-up properties bursting onto the market. If we do, will that be enough to cool prices or will we continue to see them rise? It will be interesting to watch what influence the extended lockdown in Auckland could have given the economic power house Auckland is on all of NZ. Statistics show an increased interest in the regional property market from Aucklanders, with significant lift in internet searches on key sites. This lift suggests there could be increasing numbers of people that are considering escaping the hustle and bustle, not to mention lockdowns of Auckland, which could intensify the demand for property stocks in locations like Lower Hutt. With Spring being one of the best times to buy and sell property, and the yo-yoing between Levels, anything could happen.
This increased interest and low stock numbers could potentially see prices hold or climb through this Spring season.
