Data suggests a cooling in the market, not a crash. 

Vanessa Williams, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz, says the market is cooling rather than crashing:

 “The national average asking price has decreased by around $10,000 per month since January. If this cooling continues at the same pace, the national average could be around $890,000 in December.” 

However, Vanessa explains that while this speculation might sound scary for property owners, it’s essential to consider these changes in context and remember that property is generally a long-term investment:

 "Even if prices continue to trend down until Christmas, it only takes asking prices back to mid-2021 levels – a time when prices in the late $800s were all-time highs.”

She adds that the market is cyclical and suggests this is a levelling out of the market following the pandemic’s disruption over the last two years. 

New listings ‘spring’ up in September

Many Kiwis were facing COVID-19 restrictions this time last year, so it’s not surprising that new listings were up nationally by 12.0% last month compared to September 2021. However, compared to pre-pandemic levels in September 2019, 1,020 fewer homes came onto the market in September 2022.

Vanessa says that better weather and the desire to change living arrangements ‘before Christmas’ typically means an increase in new listings during spring.

“We’re not quite up to pre-pandemic levels when it comes to new listings, however. 1,020 fewer homes came onto the market in September 2022 than in September 2019.”

“Perhaps Kiwis were busy making the most of the extra daylight and the long weekend to prep their homes for sale during September this year,” suggests Vanessa.