Sales lowest in years

Auckland is patchy, and elsewhere it's worse. Everywhere, demand is measly in a buyers' market. Bruce Morris reports.

What an odd residential real estate market we have at the moment - some bits sliding away to where the sun don't shine as others draw prices around the levels hit at the peak of the boom in 2007.

Parts of Auckland breeze along wondering what much of the fuss is about, and the right houses in the right location of the city fringe are drawing huge interest and big prices. But faraway suburbs (and some not so faraway) are wondering when they'll stop drifting. Meanwhile, in Wellington, it's all about drift.

Coastal is having a terrible time, as explained on earlier pages, though top quality on the seashore seems to be holding up reasonably well if it's handy enough to the big smoke. Out in the provincial cities, some are doing better than others, which is not to say that any of them are doing especially well.

Welcome to the grind of 2010. Depending on where you live, your economic certainty and size of the mortgage, you may be cruising along happily, or having sleepless nights.

To read the full NZ Herald article, click here

Posted: 13 Dec 2010

News articles