House sellers lower expectations, real estate website says

RNZ News

21 hours ago

From 1 January 2024 to the end of May 2025, homeowners asked for an average of $894,915 for their properties but achieved an average selling price of $898,845.
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RNZ
House sellers are reducing their expectations below what buyers are willing to pay, listings site Realestate.co.nz says.
It has produced data showing how sales prices compare to the asking price at the time the property was sold.
Between 1 January last year and the end of May this year, homeowners asked for an average of $894,915 for their properties but achieved an average selling price of $898,845.
The data used the price in the month that the property was officially sold. Other data, which shows vendor discounting, tends to compare sales price to the initial price at which a property was listed.
Realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Williams said sellers were meeting the market.
"The last 18 months have been tough for sellers, but we are seeing that by the time their home sells, vendors are getting realistic with their price expectations. This seems to be having a surprisingly positive outcome, as they are ending up with slightly more than they bargained for."
Auckland sellers were asking an average $1.26 million and selling for an average $1.27m.
In Canterbury, they were asking an average $745,995 and selling for $759,715.
In Wellington, they asked an average $901,484 and sold for $918,668.
Williams said Wellington was the area with the biggest positive difference.
Coromandel stood out as the region where vendors received notably less than their expectations, with an average asking price of $1.117m compared to an average selling price of $1.071m.
Northland and Waikato also had asking prices above sales prices.
Williams said it was normal for a vendor to list a property with a high price, perhaps with the memory of what a neighbour sold for in recent years.
"Then as the campaign goes along the market starts to tell the vendor how much the property is worth, you start to see that asking price drop because if they want to get the property moved they have to meet the market."
She said when the market was busier, vendors could not keep up with how quickly the market was growing.
"People are frantic and they just want to secure a property. Yeah, and so what usually happens is we do see that gap between asking prices and selling prices, be far higher and therefore drives the market up and up and up - until a point."
She said while the gap might be bigger in a busier market, it was a sign that buyers and sellers were meeting.
"Now we are seeing well priced properties move."
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