New Zealand’s housing market has swung firmly in favour of buyers, with the number of homes for sale climbing to a 12-year high in June while average asking prices fell for a fourth month in a row. The figures point to a market where sellers now face plenty of competition and buyers can afford to take their time.
There were 34,761 residential properties listed for sale on Realestate.co.nz at the end of June, up 7.3% on the same month a year earlier and the most stock the website has carried in June since 2014, according to figures reported by interest.co.nz. The national average asking price slipped to $839,730 in June, down from $898,677 in February, a fall of $58,947 or 6.6% across those four months.
Auckland led the way down. The average asking price in the country’s biggest market dropped to $1,006,735 in June, barely holding above the $1 million mark, after sitting at $1,097,748 in February. That is a decline of $91,013 or 8.3% in four months.
Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said the shift in supply was handing the advantage to people who were ready to buy. “Stock is up across almost every region, which means buyers can be more considered in their decision making,” she said.
The pattern was echoed in Auckland’s largest real estate agency. Barfoot & Thompson sold 890 homes in June, its strongest June result since the boom year of 2021 and up 1.6% on the 876 it sold in June last year. Yet the extra activity came with softer prices. The agency’s median selling price fell to $940,000, down $40,000 or 4.1% from May and down $41,500 or 4.2% on June a year ago, as detailed in the same coverage. It was the lowest June median the firm has recorded since 2020.
Barfoot’s average selling price told a similar story, dropping to $1,107,945 in June, a fall of $49,268 or 4.3% on May and down 2% on June last year. The agency held 6,037 properties on its books at the end of the month, its highest June stock level since 2008 and an 18-year peak, even as it took in 1,458 fresh listings during June.
Barfoot & Thompson managing director Peter Thompson said the cheaper end of the market was doing the heavy lifting. “Property in the under $750,000 price range attracted a great deal of interest,” he said, a sign that first home buyers and investors are the ones stepping up while the top of the market stays quiet.
The picture of a buyer’s market was backed by property data firm Cotality, which reported that median dwelling values were slowly drifting downwards with little sign of rapid price growth on the horizon. For anyone who bought at the top of the cycle, that means values are unlikely to rebound quickly. For those still saving a deposit, it buys more time.
What is unusual about the current market is that weak prices are sitting alongside a strong building pipeline rather than a collapsing one. Stats NZ figures show 39,737 new homes were consented in the year ended May 2026, up 19% on the previous year, the agency reported. Stand-alone houses rose 17% to 18,271 while multi-unit homes such as townhouses and apartments climbed 20% to 21,466, now the larger share of what is being built.
The lift in consents was broad. Auckland accounted for 16,862 of the new homes, up 22%, while Canterbury jumped 30% to 8,468. Nationally, the country consented 7.4 new dwellings for every 1,000 residents in the year to May, up from 6.3 a year earlier. More new homes flowing into a market that already has record listings only adds to the choice facing buyers and the pressure facing anyone trying to sell.
Falling construction costs are part of what has kept the building numbers up. Builders have reported that cheaper diesel and easing material prices have taken some of the sting out of project budgets that had been rising for several years, giving developers a little more confidence to keep breaking ground.
Cheaper fuel has also fed into the wider mood. Consumer confidence lifted in June as petrol prices eased, and business confidence reached its highest level since February. Traders now expect the Reserve Bank to hold the Official Cash Rate steady at its next review, with bank economists at ASB revising their pick to a July pause after a US and Iran agreement helped cool the oil price spike seen earlier in the year.
For the housing market, the near-term direction looks set. With listings at levels not seen in more than a decade, a full construction pipeline and asking prices still drifting lower, the balance of power sits with buyers who are in no hurry. Sellers, meanwhile, are learning that in a market this well stocked, the ones who price sharply are the ones who sell.
What are you seeing in your local market, and does the extra choice change your plans to buy or sell? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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