Chapter 1: What recent changes occurred in the New Zealand property market?
$54 million was wiped off the New Zealand property market just the first three months of this year. Sellers are dropping their prices, but here's the twist. Even though that's a scary big number, the latest stat might actually be good news for the sellers. This latest fresh data from realestate.co.nz gives us a really clear picture of what's going on with property right now.
Not the vibes, not the headlines, but the actual numbers. And it's showing the start of a shift. So welcome to Ask the Experts, where each week people from inside the money world help us make sense of what's happening right now. In the hot seat today, Vanessa Williams from realestate.co.nz, the data queen who gets it into plain language for us.
Making Sense is partnered with realestate.co.nz to get you the info you need in today's market. realestate.co.nz gives you so many ways to search and so much information to help you make decisions.
Chapter 2: How can the latest data from realestate.co.nz impact sellers?
realestate.co.nz Download the app today. Vanessa Williams, welcome in. You have brought some wonderful fresh data for us to figure out what's going on in the property world. And thank goodness, because there's a lot. So, latest figures from realestate.co.nz show property prices still falling, but it's slowing down, right? Walk me through them.
Yeah, so falling is an interesting term because actually we've seen relative stability for the last three and a half years. But actually, when you compare that to what's been happening with inflation, because of course, inflation's gone up, but so have wages.
If property prices are staying the same, which isn't a bad or a good thing, really, or depending on which side of the coin you're on, of course. But look, the reality of it is it actually means that house prices are cheaper just by nature of costs going up and wages going up, but house prices remaining stable.
So, look, I know that we've had this conversation before and I still continue to reiterate it. It's actually a beautiful time to transact, in my humble opinion, of course, because when you kind of know what that baseline is, where you're sitting and what you're probably going to either sell your property for or buy a new one for, it just gives everybody a little bit more comfort.
I think probably because we've been in that environment now for well over three and a half years, that is what has shifted perhaps the drop or what we're going to talk about today is those price drops that are happening in the property market. Where do they sit compared with previous quarters?
Yeah, okay, so run us through them. Where does it sit?
Fascinating, fresh new data. For the quarter, January to March, we have seen $54 million drop out of the New Zealand property market. So much money. Eye-watering, in fact. But what I will say was more eye-watering much earlier on in 2023, we actually saw over 100 million drop out.
And probably the most comparable quarter would be the same month, January to March, but last year, beginning of 2025, where we saw 63 million drop out of the average asking price of New Zealand property. So we actually have gone, it's less, 54 versus 63. So they're actually is less that is pulled out of that summer quarter.
But what that really tells me is that, as we said, because those property prices have remained stable for such a long time, sellers are a little bit more realistic with what they're putting their properties on the market for. And vice versa, buyers aren't trying to come and grab themselves a deal because they realize, look, the property market is what the property market is.
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Chapter 3: What does the current buyer's market mean for potential buyers?
So to get some accurate numbers there, that's why we always compare those first quarter numbers to the previous year, same time.
That's dead right. The biggest transactions actually happen in four months of the year, believe it or not. So we have very, very busy, hyped up months in October and November, and then again in February and March, which you can well imagine because we've stuck inside all winter. The house is perhaps a little bit moldy, not looking as lovely. The gardens aren't as fresh.
You start to see that daylight savings happen, bit more light, bit more fresh, bit more flowers. You're like, right, let's move. And vice versa, you get to the end of the year, you take a deep breath, hopefully Santa's kind to you, you come into the brand new year and think, you know what, it's time for a bit of a move, time to shake it up.
And so, of course, that then translates into the New Zealand property market, which is when those really busy months are. And look, it's, and that does, and that's why it's important to kind of compare the same time of year, because we want to make sure we're capturing those increases. You don't want to be comparing winter to summer because it's just not a fair comparison.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, from my reading of this, it's really interesting to say you get the sense that people have just been more realistic, that maybe the market is still pretty flat in general, but this is showing fewer price moves once it's listed. So maybe sellers are coming in more realistic, buyers are more willing to negotiate.
So we'd still call it a buyer's market right now? Yeah, we would because there is still a lot of stock out there. So there is plenty of homes for those beautiful buyers to look at. So when we sort of see that tipping point, it's probably around, say, 25,000 homes right across the motu. At the moment, we're sitting upwards of 37,000 homes.
Wow.
So what that means is if you are looking to sell, is that you've got quite a bit of competition on the market at the moment, typically, and also for buyers, there is more choice out there.
So we're still certainly seeing really good homes transact, well-presented homes really move in this market, but yet because there is a lot more supply than there is demand to match it, we would still see that it's typically a buyer's market at the moment, and they've got a bit more time to be considered with their purchases.
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Chapter 4: How do global events like the Iran conflict affect New Zealand property?
Nobody truly has a crystal ball, but that's just what the predictions are at the moment. What do you think? Do you look at that? And again, imperfect crystal ball, fine. But, you know, as someone in the industry with access to heaps of data, Do you think this could impact the property market?
I do think it will as a flow-on effect. Look, I think we have got so much uncertainty at the moment, full stop, looking globally, looking at those challenges with oil, whether it's a supply or a demand issue, we have got just uncertainty around that, gosh, their global economic situation, you know, how does that all flow in?
And of course, interest rates do directly impact the New Zealand property market. I think also what's fascinating for us is coming into this election year, it does mean that that creates a little bit more uncertainty.
And look, I really feel for Kiwis at the moment because you kind of felt like maybe coming into this year, oh, there's a bit more confidence with consumers, there's a bit more confidence with businesses. Maybe, just maybe, we're starting to see the other side of that sort of doom and gloom from the pandemic, then the doom and gloom from the recession. And
bam, a potential war, you know, that's really impacting the globe. So, I mean, it's just, it is quite a challenging time. But look, I think what we've got to remember is there's only so much we can control in all of that. There really is. And we can find ourselves getting really overwhelmed if we look at, but what will this mean and what will that mean and how does this impact us?
Now, look, at a macro level, of course, there is going to be shocks and spills and dips and troughs and all the rest of it. There'll also be rises. There's always opportunities in every market. But what I would say is that if that starts to get a little bit over, you start to think, oh my gosh, what am I going to do? How's this going to work?
Take a deep breath and think, what is it that is best for my family right now? What is it best for my financial situation? What was my plan? Let's go back to my plan because everybody's financial situation is different. And hopefully you're a smart listener of this wonderful podcast or viewing us on a kind of like a TV show, really. It's like a TV show here.
I'm having coffee in my lounge with my friend Francis. But no, look, go back to your plan. You probably will have a plan if you're a smart person listening to this podcast. And the important part to that is that is the stuff that you can control.
100%. That controlling what you can control, I just keep coming back to that. You've just got to say, there's a whole bunch I can't control, but there are always some things you can take control of those. So we're going to do a little bit of run with the foxes and hunt with the hounds. Nice. So we're going to look at it as both a buyer and a seller.
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Chapter 5: What strategies should sellers consider in today's market?
I would be working with a real estate agent who really understands your property and your area. Because these are the people every day who are dealing with buyers. So they will know what type of buyer potentially that your property would best appeal to. how many of those are floating about, how much money they've got to spend on a house like yours.
And typically if they work locally, they're going to understand the area. They'll have a good database in your area. And so I would really be thinking about the person or the expert that you work with in order to move that property. And I've said it before and I'll say a thousand times, you cannot sell a secret.
Make sure that your property is well presented, well marketed, and really make sure that you get every potential buyer into that living room, into that tender room, into that auction room, however you choose to sell your property, which your real estate expert will be able to help you with that as well, given the climate, given your property.
But you want to create as much demand as possible, and marketing certainly helps with that.
A hundred percent. I mean, that's something that you see people when they're going to market and they put all this effort into cleaning up the house and making it look beautiful and then maybe skimp on photos and things. I'm just like, I don't, I don't understand. What are you doing? That's the bit I'd go hard on. Absolutely. What about for buyers? Is there anything they should bear in mind?
make sure you keep your options wide. You really think about what it is that you're looking for both now and coming into the future. If you've got six and seven year old boys, they're not gonna be that small for that long. Maybe think about what they might be like when they're teenagers.
You know, in this market at the moment, we do as a buyer, you have quite a privilege of time because there is, as I said earlier, quite a lot of stock out there, but also good homes, well-priced, well-presented, well-marketed are certainly moving. But as a buyer, not every vendor sees that opportunity.
So you might be able to uncover one of those ones and sort of be able to negotiate a bit on that. Because we have the luxury of time at the moment, think about taking a deep breath and taking the time. Think about what work from home versus work from an office could look like. What do you want your commute times to be, whether it's for play school or business?
perhaps aging parents or cousins or aunties that you want to visit a bit more of. So yeah, I think we do have a real privilege as a buyer at the moment. Certainly get yourself au fait with the market. As we've always said, you know, go and save all those beautiful areas that you want to live on, preferably on realestate.co.nz. Shameless plug there.
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Chapter 6: How can buyers effectively negotiate in the current market?
And I don't think you really kind of understand that moment. You've got the keys, you walk in the door, you're like, wow, this is ours.
There's no feeling like it. I still remember walking into my first home and just being like, Mine. Actually mine. So good. Thank you so much. Vanessa Williams from realestate.co.nz bringing us that wonderful fresh data as always. If this episode helped you, send it on to a friend. We can all level up our money together. Until next time, have a great day.
This podcast can only give you general information about how things work in most situations. It's not individual financial advice. If you're after that, a financial advisor is always the best bet.