Today’s NZ Herald headlines shouted the above statistic. Auckland’s median had gone from $447,000 to $435,000 in just one month. Low sales volumes were a major contributor.
Four months ago, in March 2008, I wrote this: “In a few months (say May 2008 we may see a headline that says “Auckland house prices falling by $100 per week”. By the time a headline like that is published, the decline is likely to have stopped, and the buyers are likely to have returned to the market en masse.”
So, it seems I got the figures a tad wrong. Are buyers flooding back to the market as I write this? No they’re not, but I can’t remember a winter in which sales numbers were at all bullish. When buyers sense that prices are right, they will come of out of the woodwork. Anyone who is buying right now will tell you they feel good about the price they are paying. Did they say that during 2006/7? No they didn’t.
Imagine the opportunites that are about to present themselves to buyers.
On a personal note – 2007 was my best year in real estate. More sales, more income than ever! This year, 2008, I am tracking better than I was last year. Fact. The negativity, falling prices, fewer buyers etc, are simply not slowing my business. If anything, real sellers are calling me, because (if I do say so myself 
, I am selling homes without too much difficulty in this market. The difference? Experience and skill.
