House sales across Aotearoa are on the rise with a "renewed level of activity" in the market, but prices remain flat and listings are dropping.
It comes as REINZ (the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand) released its monthly property report for June on Thursday.
SALES
Jen Baird, chief executive at REINZ said June is normally slower for property sales, but this year it had a "notable" 14.6 percent boost compared to 12 months ago.
Excluding Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, annual sales shot up 17.4 percent.
However, when compared to May, June's nationwide sales dipped 4.1 percent.
“With sales counts up year-on-year but down slightly month-on-month, the change in direction of the national inventory level is driving ongoing lower levels of new property coming to market and an increase in the number of sales,” said Baird.
She said sales tend to drop with the change in seasons.
"Commentators say there are harder times ahead, but sales are still happening, people are still making choices about where and how they live, and these choices necessitate a property transaction."
She added there are reports of more first-home buyers at open homes, following the Reserve Bank's easing of Loan-to-Value restrictions in June.
PRICES
The median house price nationwide is $780,000, unchanged from May.
Properties in Whakatū/Nelson have lost the most value (down 17.2 percent) over the past twelve months, now sitting at $650,000.
Meanwhile, Te Tai Poutini/West Coast properties had the biggest annual rise (up 35.4 percent) to $400,000 - and yet it still remains the cheapest region for homebuyers.
The number of days to sell has stayed the same at 49, compared to May.
LISTINGS
Total listings nationwide are down 7.5 percent since May to 24,676 homes.
New listings have dropped 15.5 percent since May.
6,218 homes were put up for sale last month, with 4,005 of those outside Auckland.
Baird said some owners seemed hesitant to sell currently.
It comes after the Reserve Bank left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 5.5 percent on Wednesday - after hiking it consecutively 12 times.
REINZ's latest report also comes three months ahead of national elections in October, amid global pressures like Covid-19 aftermath and Russia's invasion of Ukraine adding to cost-of-living concerns around the globe.
