Rising interest rates have caused hesitancy among buyers across New Zealand, said Jen Baird, chief executive at the REINZ, while releasing the monthly property report on Tuesday.
Sales activities remain down and properties are taking longer to sell than in October 2021, Baird said.
Across New Zealand, median prices for residential property decreased 7.5 percent annually to 825,000 NZ dollars (503,609 U.S. dollars) in October 2022, she said, adding that this represents a 1.9 percent increase month-on-month.
Several compounding factors have created uncertainty and hesitancy in the market this year where there was confidence and urgency last year, rising interest rates and the cost of living, tax legislation and property regulation, tightened lending criteria, and global events with macro-economic impacts, according to the REINZ report.
"We see downward pressure on prices, and the pace of the market has come down," Baird said.
Salespeople have observed a noticeable increase in the number of first-home buyers back in the market, she added.
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