A serious shortage of homes listed for sale in Hamilton has put sellers firmly in the driver’s seat, says Lodge Real Estate agent Glenn Collins.
“The number of homes listed for sale in the city today is just 685. This is around the same number as July last year. However, what is different is within that number there are a lot more pre-sold properties and properties under contract. That means the true number of homes available for sale is much lower.
“This creates a striking imbalance of supply and demand, which we’ve been signalling for a few months now. The lack of housing stock is starting to really frustrate buyers while prices continue to hit them in the pocket,” says Collins.
Collins says patient vendors who have had their homes listed for several months are getting a “second wind” due to the lack of competition in the market. “The lack of supply is forcing buyers to look ‘deeper’ into the market at homes that have been listed for quite some time, and those persevering sellers are being rewarded.”
The Real Estate Institute of NZ released its monthly statistics yesterday for June 2018. Hamilton’s median house price for the month marked a new high climbing to $567,000 as compared to $542,000 in May 2018.
Collins says the intense competition for quality homes in Hamilton is playing out in the city’s auction rooms. “Among Hamilton agents who called greater than 10 auctions each during June, around 40% of homes were sold successfully at those auctions. This compares to 46.75% during June 2017,” he says.
Collins says the current market is an especially challenging situation for first home buyers. “Investors are more active in Hamilton, which is making it difficult for first home buyers to compete. We don’t see investor activity easing off anytime soon, however, so advice for first home buyers is if you can afford to buy now, do so, because it’s only going to get more competitive in that lower price bracket in coming months.”
As Hamilton matures as a city, Collins says “micro-markets’ are emerging.
“As is common in larger cities, we are starting to see definite micro-markets emerge in Hamilton. For instance, new million-dollar homes are in great demand and selling well in Rototuna. While homes at much lower price points in other suburbs, may not present as well and take more time to sell.
“This is a common phenomenon in mature cities where just a few kilometres apart in different suburbs, you can see homes of very different quality and at completely different price points,” says Collins.
Total value of home sales within Hamilton city during June was $142,057,760, down from $183,427,682 during May as volumes across the city slid. The median listing price during the month was $559,000 compared to the median sale price of $567,000.
For the latest REINZ market data for Hamilton, visit www.reinz.co.nz
