The Ray White Group saw a reduced number of sales for April 2010 of 9% in comparison to the April results in 2009. In comparison to last month, property sales fell by 12%.
The top offices for the month included Ponsonby who completed close to $20 million in sales turnover, Kohimarama, Manukau, Howick and Ellerslie. Offices that achieved the highest zone area increase included Kerikeri, Hamilton City, Palmerston North, Mapua, Merivale and Invercargill. Our marketing presence increased by 13% and this is measured on the overall presence in key media throughout New Zealand.
The lower volume of sales is attributed to Easter and the school holiday period through April, and while the results in the listing stock saw an increase from 12 months ago of 12% it was a reduction of almost 19% on March 2010. The number of new listings linked to the lower level of sales volume continues to show a consistent market for buyers and for sellers. The Ray White Group results were in line with the reporting from realestate.co.nz which has shown in their Property Report for April 2010 that listings fell by 15% to 12,225 from last month and from the same time last year increased by 17%.
With the Budget announcement on 20th May 2010 we are expecting that there is a tightening on investment property but this will be balanced by favourable first home incentives together with an easing of the monetary policy, which will allow banks more discretion at the time of lending.