Signs of uncertainty in the housing market

The housing market has failed to start the year with the traditional January rush of new listings, Quotable Value says.

QV spokeswoman Glenda Whitehead said sales were normally at their lowest during the Christmas period, but there was usually an increase in listings in January, leading into the busiest time of the year in February and March.

"This January the expected increase appears to be absent," Ms Whitehead said.

National property values increased another 4.4 per cent in the year to January, compared with the same time last year, but are still 4.3 per cent below their 2007 peak.

Wellington regional values were up 5.7 per cent, with an average sale price of $460,638.

The national average sale price rose to $409,807 last month from $404,671 in December.

Values in most of the main centres had continued to rise in recent months and were now all more than the same time last year.

Auckland regional values were up 7.3 per cent and Christchurch prices were 6.3 per cent higher.

Ms Whitehead said sales and listings were lower than expected in a "patchy" January. Valuers had noticed an increase in activity in some sectors of the market and a fall in others. The lack of activity last month could be because of more people taking leave at Christmas and returning later from holiday.

"There are also signs of increasing indecision in the market, fuelled by uncertainty over interest rates, employment, the direction in which property prices are likely to move and the recently announced tax working group recommendations," Ms Whitehead said.

Pieter Geill, of QV Wellington, said the region's housing market had a slow and contradictory holiday season.

"Some properties are selling quite fast, while others seem to linger on the market for a long time, usually as a result of overpricing," he said.

"Buyer attitudes also seem to have hardened somewhat and people are generally making property decisions more cautiously than in October and November last year, despite the shortage of listings over this period".

There was some anecdotal evidence that property listings had begun to improve late last month and into this month, Mr Geill said.

Ms Whitehead said most of the sales, particularly in the main centres, were driven by existing homeowners and first-home buyers, rather than investors.

Last year's frantic competition among buyers over the limited number of properties on the market appeared to have eased last month "at least for the time being", she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News