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Source: ONE News -
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Trade Me says soaring mortgagee sales have caused a flurry of house buyer activity in 2009.
A 12 month review by Trade Me Property shows a threefold increase in mortgagee sales between January 2008 and January 2009.
"Last month we had 106 mortgagee sales listed on Trade Me Property, compared to 32 in January 08,'' head of property, Brendon Skipper, says.
Property values listed over the same period decreased with the average listing price down 3.7% for 2008 compared to 2007. The Canterbury area was one of the largest contributors to the decrease, with local properties showing a 9.5% decrease.
However online house buyer activity is at the highest rate ever, with over 861,000 unique browsers looking at Trade Me listings in January - a 27% increase on December 2008.
"Our assumption was that buyers would be cooling their heels in January given the tight market conditions, but instead it seems to be pulling a lot more buyers into online property,'' says Skipper, adding that buyer inquiries are at the highest level in three years.
"Buyer emails inquiries ratcheted up over 55% for New Zealand properties, from 76,000 in December to 120,000 in January."
Auckland had the most mortgagee sales while the regions with the least were Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Taranaki and West Coast.
