So, how is the market?
We are seeing an increase in market energy with strong activity from determined buyers. In short, the market is humming. It’s all over the media, and it’s certainly ringing true in the statistics as well. If you are thinking of selling, it’s the best it's been in years.

What is contributing to the increase in sales volume? The high sales volumes have reduced available listings and with multiple active buying segments, this is resulting in a strong demand for quality properties. Also, an increase in confidence in the housing market which has been underpinned by a relatively strong economy, good employment rates and the low interest rate environment.

Manukau’s statistics
In Manukau, volume is up, stock remained tight, prices up and days to sell stable.
The median sale price for Manukau increased by 4.3% over a one year period and if we look at this data over a five year period, this has increased by 6.8%.

Market highlights
Across NZ, Listing supply has increased to 3.2% compared to the same time last year making it the busiest Jnaury in 4 years. In Auckland, this number increased by 9.7% making it the highest number of residential properties sold in the month of January since January 2016.

In Auckland, median house prices increased by 8.7% to $875,000 – up from $805,000 at the same time last year.

In summary
An extremely positive start to 2020 with all factors pointing towards a busy year ahead.

Best selling author Ryan Holiday tells a real-life story of how a real estate agent he had not previously met gained his trust — because the agent undervalued the investment potential of a property he had expressed interest in.

When Ryan obtained the rental income range, he didn’t trust this report, so he did his own research. He called two other rental agencies who managed units in the same building and got actual numbers for what the property earned.

Much to his surprise, the actual rental income was higher than what the agent had estimated.
“The agent I was speaking with could have stretched the truth. He could have given me optimistic numbers about the rental prospects of the property. I trust him implicitly now as I know he is not the type to make a hard sale. I am now comfortable that the investment works even with this conservative math. And, most of all, one of the excuses I was looking for as a buyer — one should always look for reasons not to do something they are excited to do — has evaporated.”

Agents can over-promise on price and oversell their abilities because they don’t want to come across as not being good enough. People don’t care how much an agent knows unless they know how much they care. An agent doesn't have to be the dominant agent in the area to get the listing, but they do have to know the marketplace incredibly well and be the “Google” of that area. That’s how an agent demonstrates their credibility.

When an agent is conservative, they can over-deliver. But when an agent over-promises, they open themselves up to under-delivering to the customer.

“We didn’t just want an agent who would tell us what we wanted to hear, we wanted an agent who listened to our needs. Shannon ticked all those boxes and more from our first meeting.”

— Scott Radcliffe

Source

The property market in Auckland remains balanced and stable with homes turning over at a relatively slower rate in recent months as listings remain relatively high.

We are finding homes are taking a while longer to sell given the current stock levels, however, there is still a good percentage of homes selling each month and values are reasonably consistent. Sellers are finding that in a balanced market, prices need to be competitive from the get-go and aligned with current market conditions and buyer activity if they are to sell. The silver lining to that, of course, is that prices are relative; so, if you're buying and selling in Auckland in the same market, it balances out.

It's also worth noting that in Auckland over the past 20 years, property prices have nearly doubled every 10 years, as the median 10 year rise is 96% which you can see in the chart below (this data is using REINZ House Price Index). When you compare this to all of NZ, Auckland has sustained a relatively consistent higher 10 year growth in prices that are well ahead of the NZ total at 88%.

Regardless of the rates of values and turn over, the balance between demand and supply always needs to be considered in assessing market activity and property values.

Source