PHOTO: House Prices Keep Falling in New Zealand, Despite What the Agents Say. FILE
📢 Talk is Cheap – But the Numbers Don’t Lie
While some real estate agents may insist the market is “stabilising” or “about to bounce back,” the stats say otherwise — and they don’t sugar-coat reality.
Forget the open-home optimism: New Zealand’s housing market is still in a prolonged slump, and the data proves it.
📉 Prices Are Still Dropping Nationwide
According to Cotality’s May 2025 report:
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📉 National house prices fell 0.1% in May
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🔻 Down 1.6% year-on-year
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💥 Still 16.3% below the peak
Major centres like Auckland and Wellington are leading the fall:
| Region | Price Drop Since Peak |
|---|---|
| Auckland | -21.4% |
| Wellington | -23.9% |
| Canterbury | -13.2% |
No matter what agents say, this is not a market recovery — it’s a continued correction.
New Zealand’s Housing Market Keeps Falling – And It’s Not Stopping Anytime Soon | WATCH
📉 Asking Prices Keep Sliding
TradeMe’s Property Price Index shows:
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❄️ Average national asking prices dropped 1.2% in May
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📉 Followed a 0.8% decline in April
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📆 Median days on market jumped to 70 days (from 62 in April)
Agents may talk about “buyer activity” or “market momentum,” but these figures show a market cooling fast.
🧱 Construction Is Slowing to a Crawl
You won’t hear this at an auction: Building activity has tanked, despite lower interest rates.
ASB Bank admits it’s worse than expected:
“Construction activity has been surprisingly frail.”
Even with the Reserve Bank of NZ cutting rates by 2.25%, builders aren’t biting — and neither are buyers.
📉 Mortgages Are Cheaper, But Buyers Are Still Cautious
Lower rates have helped mortgage affordability:
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💸 Mortgage payments now just 35% of household income, down from 50%
But Cotality’s chief economist Kelvin Davidson explains the hesitation:
“Lower rates are helping wallets, but they’re not changing behaviour. Buyers are still wary.”
🎯 Reality Check: It’s Still a Buyer’s Market
Let’s cut through the spin:
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Sellers are discounting.
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Buyers are cautious.
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Listings are sitting longer.
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Confidence is low.
Unless you’re listening to an agent hoping for a commission, the writing is on the wall: the correction is continuing, and the smart money knows it.
🧊 Summary: Ignore the Hype, Follow the Numbers
While real estate agents have a vested interest in talking up the market, objective data from Cotality, TradeMe, and REINZ paints a very different picture.
So before you believe the “now’s a great time to buy” pitch — check the stats.
Because numbers don’t lie.