Trade Me has released its October housing report, which reported that the number of homes listed for sale across New Zealand jumped by 43% year-on-year, marking the highest annual number of listings for an October on record.
Commenting on the result, Trade Me Property Sales Director Gavin Lloyd noted “nationwide supply has now seen an annual increase for 13 months in a row”.
“Demand, on the other hand, nationwide fell by 17%-on-year in October, with Gisborne (-37%), Auckland (-24%), and Canterbury (-19%) recording the biggest drops when compared with the same month in 2021.”
Nationwide home values rose 1% year-on-year to $904,050, which was the smallest annual price growth since October 2019.
“This is the first time we have seen a year-on-year increase of less than 5% since April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic”, according to Gavin Lloyd.
Values also rebounded 1% month-on-month in October, “which mirrors what we have seen in previous years where the market picks up during the warmer months”, according to Lloyd.
I view this 1% price rebound as a seasonal ‘dead cat bounce’ given the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is widely expected to lift the official cash rate aggressively over coming months to tame stubbornly high inflation.
So long as the RBNZ continues to lift interest rates, New Zealand house prices will necessarily continue to fall.
