Our take on the latest Real estate statistics (Thu 13 Aug 2026)
10%pa0.4%pa
9.3%paThe key numbers...
Housing activity pulled back further in July, with house sales falling 5.2% (seasonally adjusted) to their lowest monthly total since mid-2024 and extending the run of sales declines to five consecutive months.
This fall left July sales sitting 10% lower than a year ago, with annual drops across 13 of the 16 regions, including 10 regions with double-digit declines.
House prices are still under pressure, falling 0.1% in July (seasonally adjusted by Infometrics) to sit 1.0% lower than in February 2026. Auckland has recorded one of the largest declines since February, with house prices down 3.1% over the last five months. For the rest of New Zealand, house prices eased 0.1% in the month but growth in earlier months means prices are up 0.1% compared to February.
The stock of property available for sale continues to grow, up 9.3%pa in July compared to a year earlier. However, new listings actually fell in July, down 0.5%pa – the first annual decline since April 2025.
The median days to sell a house increased to 47 (seasonally adjusted) in July, above the long-term average of 40 days. Auckland days to sell increased to 49 – the longest median time for the city in nearly two years, and well above the 38-day long-term average.
...and our reaction
The property market continues to slide as buyers remain cautious in the face of rising interest rates, higher unemployment, global uncertainty, and a wide choice of available properties.
The high volume of stock on the market isn’t necessarily being driven by a surge in people wanting or needing to sell homes, with new listings falling for the first time in a few years in July. However, previously more houses coming onto the market coupled with slower sales means more unsold properties, which are starting to accumulate.
Part of the downward pressure on prices in the property market at present is the large amount of choice on offer for potential, and still cautious, buyers. With more properties available for sale than at any time in the last decade, buyers can afford to be picky and drive a hard bargain.
Sellers have been taking time to realise that buyers are unwilling to pay the higher prices sellers might have seen back at the peak of the market, and this disconnect has seen the time taken to sell a house remain relatively long.
That willingness to right-size price expectations to achieve a sale appears to be increasing, with Cotality’s recent Pain and Gain report for the June 2026 quarter showing 13% of houses sold in the quarter didn’t sell for a gross profit, the highest unprofitable sales quarter since 2012.
Latest updates
Continued housing market declines
12%pa House sales in September 20261.5%pa House prices from a year earlier11%pa Stock of homes for sale in September 2026Housing market struggles persist
13%pa House sales in August 20260.9%pa House prices from a year earlier9.7%pa Stock of homes for sale in August 2026Conflict continues to drag on housing market in June
8.8% House sales between Feb and Jun 2026 (seas adj)0.8% House prices since February (seas adj)4.8% Stock of homes for sale since February (seas adj)