Confidence is beginning to return to the housing market, but most buyers and sellers remain unsure.
ASB’s latest Housing Confidence survey for the three months to April showed a net 34 percent of respondents expected house prices to continue to fall over the next 12 months, compared with a net 43 percent in the prior quarter.
In a statement, ASB Economist Nathaniel Keall said confidence increased but remained very low, with Aucklanders the most confident – a net 6 percent agreeing it was a good time to buy property. “It seems the housing market is moving into more lukewarm territory, but we’re still a long way off the red-hot days of 2020 and 2021,” Keall said.
The survey indicated the majority of New Zealanders (net 66 percent) were not convinced the property market had found its floor, but an increased number thought it was close. A growing number also expected home loan rates were near their peak, though more than half (net 59 percent) still expected further interest rate rises. “It remains a tricky environment to predict what’s next for interest rates and house prices, and this uncertainty comes as many New Zealanders are doing it tough in terms of managing their mortgage repayments and housing affordability,” Keall said.
A shift in price expectations was reported throughout the country, but was more pronounced in the South Island, where house prices may have already turned, as indicated by recent Real Estate Institute data.
Credit: radionz.co.nz
