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Real estate: Bay asking prices almost as high as Wellington

 

A shortage of listings in the Bay has fuelled the expectations of people wanting to sell property here. They’re now asking almost as much for their homes as sellers in Wellington.

According to the latest Trade Me Property Price Index, Hawke’s Bay vendors are asking an average price of $545,100 for their properties, up a “staggering” 23.2 per cent from last year.

Across the entire country, the average asking price falling 1.4 per cent on June to $632,800. Hawke’s Bay and Nelson/Tasman were the only two regions where the average asking price went up significantly.

“The Nelson/Tasman region charged on to reach a new record asking price of $595,500, up 12.5 per cent on last year,” says Nigel Jeffries, Head of Trade Me Property.

“It was second only to Hawke’s Bay which led the way with the average asking price up a staggering 23.2 per cent to $545,100.

Mr Jeffries said Wellington also bucked the national downwards trend with the average asking price rose 0.2 per cent on June to $581,500 – meaning the gap between what vendors want in the Capital compared to Hawke’s Bay closed to only $36,400.

Meanwhile, the average asking price for an Auckland property fell 1.6 per cent in the year to July, landing at $895,500 and its lowest point in almost 12 months.

Mr Jeffries says this was the first time since September 2017 that the average asking price in Auckland had fallen below $900,000, a sign that the Auckland market was retreating.

“After the leaps and bounds the Auckland property market has become accustomed to over the last four years, we’re finally seeing prices start to ease which is great news for those on the house hunt,” he says.

“The Auckland region saw a surge of new listings come onto the market in July, up 7 per cent on last year and 42 per cent more than when the market peaked in July 2016.”