Property Investment
2 min read
Here’s your monthly plain English property report.
Over the last 2 weeks:
If you’re waiting for prices to fall before you buy, who do you trust? Because New Zealand’s top property data companies can’t seem to agree.
Three companies. Same sales. Three different answers.
That’s why it’s so easy to get confused about the property market. One week, there’s an article saying house prices are going down.
The next week, there’s an article saying they’re going up.
Look, none of the companies are wrong.
They’re reporting changes in their numbers. And they all calculate those numbers slightly differently.
We don’t need to get into the complexities of how each company runs its spreadsheets. The main point is that they are different.
And this. This is the pattern I’ve been warning investors to look out for over the last few years.
When data doesn’t agree, it usually means we’re at a turning point.
Because we’re at the stage where the market appears to be turning.
We’ve moved past last year’s mini-downturn. Now, we’re at the point where prices are going sideways.
When will all the data companies agree?
Give it 3 months, and they’ll all be saying the same thing: prices are rising. But by then, it’ll be obvious to everyone.
Over the last 12 months New Zealand property prices are down 0.7%. That includes that a 0.6% decrease in March.
Basically, they are going sideways.
In March it took 41 days to sell a property (on average). That's 3 days more than the same time last year.
Currently there are 32,959 properties on the market. That is up 10.8% compared to last March.
In terms of sales, March was much stronger than the previous year. 7,640 properties sold last month. That's 13.7% up on the prior year.
Rents are going sideways. No change across New Zealand year-on-year. It’s still $600 a week.
But, how are rents going once we break them down by property type and number of bedrooms.
The average rent for a:
The number of rental searches on Trade Me was up 3% last month compared to the same time last year. That’s the first time I’ve seen an increase for a while.
The number of listings were up 29% compared to the same time last year.
That’s why the rental market is quieter right now.
Our Resident Economist, with a GradDipEcon and over five years at Opes Partners, is a trusted contributor to NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, Stuff, Business Desk, and OneRoof.
Ed, our Resident Economist, is equipped with a GradDipEcon, a GradCertStratMgmt, BMus, and over five years of experience as Opes Partners' economist. His expertise in economics has led him to contribute articles to reputable publications like NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, OneRoof, Stuff, and Business Desk. You might have also seen him share his insights on television programs such as The Project and Breakfast.
