The number of listed homes for sale in Auckland reached an all-time low in 20 years by the end of December 2015.
Barfoot and Thompson firm has released its December figures, which revealed that the month generated nearly 800 sales, 19.3 percent lower than November sales. It is also the lowest for the past 22 months, according to Australian News.
The average sale statistics was down with 0.8 percent for November's record average price, having a sale price of $NZ869,492 ($A814,360). The median price rose an all-time high of $NZ800,000 or 0.6 percent.
"Sales data for the final month of the year is sending mixed messages as to where the market will head in 2016," Peter Thompson, the firm's managing director, said. "With a growing population and the number of new builds failing to keep pace with demand, competition for properties is likely to remain strong in the first quarter of 2016," he continued.
However, there were 278 properties sold for more than $1 million on the same period in 2015, averaging to nearly $870,000 from $758,891. According to Radio New Zealand News, Thompson stated that the competition for properties will stay solid in the first quarter of this current year because of Auckland's developing population and the quantity of new builds which failed to keep pace with increasing demand.
The component that is most likely to affect January deals was the extremely low postings happened just before the month of December ended, with 24.31 percent, a notable decline compared to 25.2 percent in November. NZHerald reported that the ASA Bank on its assessment of the data expressed that the housing market in Auckland remained supply-constrained, as well as demand stabilized in December.
Support for interest through low loan costs and solid population development might have exceeded the effect of the new lodging measure in December, according to ASB economist Kim Mundy.
"Even with Auckland house sales below levels seen in mid-2015, listings remain incredibly low relative to demand, the pressure might begin to ease if demand turns lower again due to the new housing measures, but as mentioned earlier, it is too early to tell what the extend of the impact on demand will be," Mundy said.
"But, given the relatively muted lift in Auckland building construction recently, particularly relative to population growth, this adjustment remains some time off," Mundy continued. Over time, increased housing construction should also help alleviate Auckland's housing market imbalances.
