Helen O'Sullivan: CEO of Real Estate at Velocity says housing price drops are not indicative of the market

The One Roof Velocity house value index has revealed a drop in property value across the country. 

Major cities like Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton have all experienced drops. However, more rural areas such as Southland, Canterbury and Northland have all seen a rise. 

CEO of real estate at Velocity Helen O’Sullivan told Mike Hosking that although the prices have dropped, the real estate market is still healthy. 

She said ‘Volumes are a key indicator, and we’re seeing those pick up’ 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've got new numbers back home though. On our housing market,

(00:02):
there's a one rue Velocity house value index between the
start of the year and the average and now the
average price hasn't moved nine hundred and sixty six thousand.
Is your value dropped? Who's dropped? Auckland, Hamilton, Duned and
Wellington West Coast Nelson by a plenty gisbon Mona with two?
Anyone left that went up?

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Southland, Canterbury, Marlborough. Taranaki, a Northland CEO of real estate
at Velocity. Helen O'Sullivan is with us Helen morning, Good morning, right,
so we're seeing more sales here, that's right.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
I mean, I think people do focus on the headline
obviously of prices, but when it comes to the overall
house of the real estate market, volumes are a really
key indicator and we are starting to see these pick
up roughly roughly ten percent up on last year, and
we've seen mortgage registrations are twenty two percent up on
the same time last year, which is a significant list.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
Yeah, I was reading over the weekend that some of
the banks are having trouble processing the number of people
who were wanting money, so at least there are people
out there, and from what we previously known, there are
plenty of houses to choose from.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
That's right, there is plenty of stock on the market.
We are seeing the days to sell, which is another
key kind of measure, if you like, of the velocity
of the market. Boom boom is roughly forty seven days,
which is three days longer than this time last year,
which indicates that buyers are feeling no pressure to conclude
those transactions, which will be feeding true ultimately into the

(01:25):
lack of price increases.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
What can you tell us about the money getting cheaper
therefore people getting more bullish, or are we going to
have to wait a while while they get into the
market and the supply drops therefore the prices start to rise.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Look, I think even though we have seen those significant
decreases in the cash rate, it is still a confidence game.
And so we do you know, migration figures have reached
a post COVID lot, the rental market has got plenty
of supply in it, and as a result, confidence is

(01:58):
still somewhat soft, and you're keeping your hands in your
pocket as far as bending on food and clothing. You're
be weary about committing to our house purchase.

Speaker 1 (02:07):
You alluded to it, but immigration must have played a
role because it's tailed off dramatically. Therefore the demand, I mean,
the new people coming into the country will want a
house where the being rent a little buyer. But if
they're not here, they're not buying, are they.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
That's absolutely correct, and we can see that in the
rental market at the moment. Landlords are reporting that is
considerably more difficult to find good tenants than it usually
than it is normally around this time of year, and
so that is unquestionably a factor in that softness.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
What's your sense of the rest of the year.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I think a lot will determine what happens in the
international state if things settle down into Just as people
were starting to get a bit of confidence, we saw
the teriff wars and actual wars break out, and that
generally has a hit on confidence. People tend to pause
and wait and see what happens. And I get a
distinct sense that you know, the wag and see is

(03:01):
the key factor in general overall economic conditions. We start
to see that check up, the housing market will follow.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Helen Good have you on the program, appreciate it? Helen?
I Suliman, CEO of Velocity, with us this morning. For
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