While it may be hard for sellers to stand out at present, market activity varies around the country. File photo. Photo: RNZ
New Zealand's housing market might have turned a corner, but it is still a tough time to be a seller.
While activity and prices are picking up, there is large amount of stock on the market, and it is keeping a lid on prices.
In January, the Real Estate Institute reported a "days to sell" measure of 54 nation-wide and 56 in Auckland, compared to 37 in January 2022.
That month, there were 3774 sales nation-wide and 8904 new listings. The number of available houses for sale was up almost 19 percent on a year earlier.
In November, clear of the holiday period, there were 11,129 new listings and 7233 sales.
Corelogic data shows that while it may be hard for sellers to stand out at present, market activity varies around the country.
As a percentage of total housing stock, the rate of sales in the past year varies from 1.7 percent in the Opotiki district, the slowest moving market in the country, through to 5.7 percent in Selwyn.
Papakura was the busiest Auckland market, with 5.7 percent of housing turned over in the year. Central Wellington had 3.2 percent and central Christchurch 4.5 percent.
Corelogic chief economist Kelvin Davidson said areas of Canterbury featured prominently in the list of the busiest parts of the market.
"A region that's had more resilience and affordability in house prices over the past couple of years, not as affected by the boom and bust cycle, and the market has just been ticking over a bit more normally than some other regions. Invercargill pops up there too, another market that's a bit more affordable."
He said a normal rate of turnover would be about 5 percent.
Wairoa and Matamata-Piako were the next quietest after Opotiki.
So what if you are trying to sell?
Property commentator Andrew Duncan said there were ways to stand out from the competition, even in a slower market.
That would include being careful about how a property was presented, and making it easy for buyers to visit.
"There's an old saying in real estate that 'clutter eats equity'. The more 'stuff' sellers can remove from their home, the bigger the rooms will feel, and the more appealing it will be to buyers. It's also important to de-personalise the home as much as possible so the next buyer can imagine themselves living there," he said.
"When it comes to viewings - sellers should make it easy for buyers to visit, even on short notice if they can by having pre-arranged viewing windows with their salesperson. Open homes are worth sticking with, even if they have been quiet. You only need that one right buyer to come through to secure a sale. Mid-week open homes are also worth consideration."
But Duncan said getting visits right would only help if buyers were inquiring about a property in the first place.
"The third aspect of the process that sellers can help control, is regularly reviewing the campaign with their salesperson. Ideally, owners should be meeting with their real estate professional every two or three weeks while their property is on the market, to discuss progress and talk through options to generate more buyer inquiry.
"If inquiry is low, they could try changing the advert script, changing the main photo online, adding a price guide, changing the marketing approach or adjusting their asking price. Different approaches will sometimes attract different buyers and it's worth switching things up to keep your listing looking fresh online."
Real estate salesperson Brooke Gibson said auctions were a way to focus buyer interest.
"If you're a vendor and you want to sell you need urgency, you need to feed the buyers' greed, and play that whole 'you can get a bargain'."
She said she had sold two properties at auction last week for more than their council valuations.
Gibson said it seemed likely that the market would gain momentum in the near future. "I don't think we will see a huge increase in prices, just that turnover will go up."
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