New Zealand housing turnover softens in April, indicates easing housing market activity

Certain of the latest REINZ figures’ elements appear pretty soft, but the broad take away is that New Zealand’s housing market activity is easing in a gradual fashion, noted ANZ in a research report. The seasonally adjusted housing turnover came in soft in April. The sales volumes are estimated to have dropped 16 percent sequentially in the month to the lowest level since August 2014. The timing of Easter and poor weather in the month are expected to have had an adverse influence.

The median number of days to sell gives a robust picture. It dropped to 34.2 days from 35.2 in March. It continues to be up around 4 days from the cycle low in May 2016, but is much below its historical average of 38 days.

Country wide, house prices grew modestly. The REINZ Stratified House Price Index was up 0.8 percent sequentially in seasonally adjusted terms. This is the third straight monthly gain. Annual growth remains at 10 percent year-on-year, showing a persistent moderation in the momentum of house price in the recent months, stated ANZ. Median house prices were up 10 percent year-on-year.