The housing market may be in danger of heading into a slump over winter, with sales volumes well down and prices starting to show significant declines.
According to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, just 6752 residential properties were sold throughout the country in March, down by exactly a third compared to March last year.
March is traditionally the busiest month of the year for residential property sales, but the national sales figures for March were the lowest they've been for the month of March in 10 years.
In Auckland, where the property market first started to cool, the decline in sales has been even greater, with 2367 residential properties selling in March, down 41% on March last year. (See the interactive chart below for the sales trends in all regions).
At first glance, selling prices appear to be holding, with the national median selling price of $890,000 up 0.6% (+$5000) compared to February, while Auckland's median of $1,200,000 was up 0.8% (+$10,000) compared to February.
However, it appears these prices may reflect a change in sales patterns, with higher priced properties taking a bigger share of the market, which would tend to push up the medians.
The REINZ's national House Price Index, which adjusts for differences in the mix of properties sold each month to give a more accurate view of overall price trends, declined by 2.1% in March compared to February and is now down 4.3% from its peak. The only regions where the HPI did not decline in March compared to February were Otago and Southland.
The biggest monthly regional declines in the HPI were in Wellington -4.7%, Gisborne/Hawke's Bay -3.5%, Manawatu/Whanganui -3.1% and Auckland -2.4%.
Significantly, all regions except Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury and Otago are also posting three-monthly declines in the HPI, although all regions except Marlborough are still showing annual increases.
"Following a period of significant activity and growth, prices are easing and the market is returning to a more settled pace," REINZ Chief Executive Jen Baird said.
"While we continue to to see prices increase annually in all but one region (Marlborough), the rate of growth is slowing, sales activity is down and the median days to sell is up.
"We're seeing the market moderate as people settle into this phase of the property cycle," she said.
