The number of unsold properties held by the largest estate agency in Auckland has doubled over the past year.

In August 2021, Barfoot & Thompson had 2,601 residential properties for sale in Auckland and Northland, yet this increased to 4,637 last month. Every month this year, except January, the agency has held over 4,000 unsold properties on its books.

Residential sales volumes were far higher in 2021, with typically more than 1,000 every month, yet in August this year, just 578 were sold.

The average residential property price in August stood at $1.15 million, a rise from $1.1 million in July, New Zealand Herald reports.

According to managing director Peter Thompson, house prices in Auckland had plateaued last month, whilst sales numbers stayed low.

"Previously, the average sales price had fallen four months in a row, but in August that trend was reversed with the average price over the previous month increasing by 3.1% to $1,157,899."

As opposed to indicating prices are rising, this reversal will likely be a signal they are plateauing.

"The prices being paid in August are still below those being paid in August last year, but the average price was down only 2% and the median price down 1.7%," Thompson added.

"Where the market is really seeing change is in the number of properties being sold, with sales numbers in August of 578 our lowest in a month since the Covid affected sales months in mid-2020.

"Given that there are buyers in the market, the combination of low sales numbers and stable prices indicates that vendors believe prices are bottoming out,” he said.

Furthermore, research published by Goldman Sachs's Australian-based Bill Zu also showed a 25% fall in New Zealand’s house prices last week.

"We now expect a peak-to-trough price decline of around 20-25% before stabilising around late 2023 or early 2024," Zu said.
 

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