February 2008 Market Update

Period	Number of Sales*	Volume of Sales
February 2008	603 Properties	$298,649,564
February 2007	989 Properties	$498,534,207
12 months to February 2008	11780 Properties	$5,743,140,687
12 months to February 2007	10200 Properties	$5,531,752,206

Auckland produces ‘buyers market’

^*Excludes Northland and Commercial

The Auckland property market continued its slower pace in February with just over 600 sales, down a third on the same month last year.  Fewer transactions also translated into a lower average sale price – down 4.3% on January (January $517,613; February $495,272).

Managing Director Peter Thompson says the general picture can only be described as a buyers’ market.

“The company experienced a good level of new listings coming onto the market during February (2,049) which means buyers have plenty of choice.  Our salespeople also report good levels of enquiry and negotiations, but vendors need to be realistic to achieve a sale.

“Generally, vendors have been slow to adapt to the changing market conditions.  It will take time for some vendors, who are selling and then buying on the same market to accept that the result is often financially neutral as they are probably able to buy better than they may previously have thought.”

“Property markets are cyclical.  We are reaching the end of a very busy phase that has its origins back in 2001/02.  While we can expect a flatter market for a while, there is no doubt that this too will give way to another period of increased activity and more sale price rises.”

On the property management front, February produced a busy month with 714 new houses and units let for an average weekly rental of $382.  This is down slightly on the record setting January result of $396 per week.