New Zealand’s housing turnover drops further in July

New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted housing turnover in July dropped further on sequential basis, falling 9.2 percent. On a year-on-year basis, the housing turnover dropped 25 percent. This leaves turnover at its lowest level since November 2011.

The median number of days to sell rose slightly. In July, it rose 0.2 days in seasonally adjusted terms to 35.9 days. It was closer to 30 days when market momentum was solid, although it does continue to be well below its long-run average of close to 40 days.

National house prices dropped again. The REINZ House Price Index dropped 0.4 percent sequentially. This is the third straight monthly fall, and the fourth decline in the past five months. This sees annual price growth eased to only 1.2 percent, which is the weakest since mid-2011.

On a region wise basis, it is still largely an ‘Auckland versus the rest’ story, although weaker trends are noticeable in most regions, noted ANZ in a research report. Auckland turnover dropped 31 percent year-on-year, while the remainder of the nation is down 21 percent. The median days to sell in Auckland is above the region’s historical average, while the majority of the other regions are still seeing property turn over at a more rapid than average rate.

At 23:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of New Zealand Dollar was bearish at -92.0626, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bullish at 70.5248. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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