The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand’s (REINZ) housing market results for January are out, with New Zealand’s housing crash continuing to deepen. The bigger story is around sales, which plunged to their lowest level ever in January, excluding the 2020 pandemic lockdown period. And around two-thirds of buyers are concerned about prices falling after they make a purchase, alongside being concerned about rising interest rates and access to finance. Given the Reserve Bank has explicitly forecast a further increase in the official cash rate to 5.5% (from 4.25% currently), alongside a recession, it is hard to see New Zealand’s housing market rebounding anytime soon. Thus, if recession hits, there could be a wave of forced sales that pushes house prices even lower.

Source: Stuff February 14, 2023 05:13 UTC