City Sales Sees a Difficult Time Ahead in Apartment Market

The growing gap between the price vendors are expecting to receive for their properties and the price buyers are prepared to pay is taking its toll in the auction rooms, and this was never more obvious than at several Auckland apartment auctions last week. This is a difficult time in the market right now as vendors think their values are high but buyers are only prepared to pay lower.

However, City Sales has managed to achieve a 50% under the hammer sale rate in their most recent auctions, which is higher than their competitors.

Average residential property values fell over the last 12 months in Auckland and Christchurch but rose strongly in Wellington, according to the latest figures from Quotable Value (QV). Nationally, the average value of all homes throughout the country was $664,698 in the three months to November, up 6.4% on the same period of last year. However, in the main urban areas average values were up just 3.8% for the year, suggesting most of the value growth occurred in provincial towns and rural areas.

Overall, the Auckland market remains relatively flat with values holding or rising slightly in some areas and dropping in others, according to QV. "There's been no significant change to the market dynamic since the change of government," QV Auckland senior consultant James Steele said. "Values are holding in well located areas, while they have dropped back in some areas further out of the city centre. An oversupply in some areas of Manukau is continuing to cause a decrease in prices, particularly in large new subdivisions which are above the median house price, while in parts of Waitakere values have also dropped back in some suburbs. However other tightly held areas, particularly in central Auckland are still doing well and seeing values still rising," he said.

City Sales is Auckland’s leading specialist agency, providing expert consultation and representation regarding apartment sales, property management and housing investment so for more information on property management Auckland, property manager Auckland and rental property management, please go to http://www.citysales.co.nz .