The government's concerns about rising house prices may be bearing at least a little fruit, although expectations that prices will rise remain strong.
While a net 88% of real estate agents are expecting house prices will rise even further, a net 5% are reporting that more residential property investors are trying to sell properties, according to economist Tony Alexander's latest survey of agents.
That's the first time agents have reported an increase in investors wanting to sell — last August, a net 15% of agents were seeing fewer investors trying to sell properties and that measure has fluctuated in negative territory since then until this latest survey.
Alexander said that although his latest survey occurred after the Reserve Bank said it would reimpose loan-to-valuation restrictions on investors, it will take some time to see whether there's any measurable impact of Finance Minister Grant Robertson's instruction to the RBNZ that it take house prices into account when setting monetary policy.
A net 32% of agents reported seeing more first-home buyers, although that measure has been falling from a peak of 50% in December.
Alexander attributes that to first-home buyers facing greater difficulty getting finance.
Agents are reporting a plateauing of people attending auctions; 43% are reporting more people attending open homes but that requests for appraisals are trending lower.
A shortage of houses available for sale remains one of the main concerns of potential buyers, although that is trumped by concerns that prices are already too high.
Nevertheless, a net 86% of agents say they're seeing fear of missing out as a major driver with buyers.
"Seeing this result, it is hard to conclude anything other than that, for the immediate future, robust levels of activity producing upward pressure on prices will continue around the country," Alexander said.
