The outlook for New Zealand’s residential market is changing, with the tug-of-war between demand and dampening factors beginning to turn the dial back to a more balanced market, and in some cases now favouring sellers.

Several significant elements which have weighed heavily on buyer appetites over the last 18 months have eased recently. Namely, the reopening of our international borders, a relaxation in migration settings, and the Reserve Bank’s (RBNZ) acknowledgement we may have passed the peak of the monetary policy tightening cycle – therefore increasing the expectation that mortgage lending rates will track lower in the year ahead.

These changes have had an observable effect on consumer sentiment, and we need only look at open home attendance, auction clearance rates and digital enquiries across our Ray White network for evidence that buyers are returning to the market.

Keep reading here.