Expect sales to level off but prices to remain stable, predicts the incoming president of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, Howard Morley.
Thursday, September 9th 2004, 7:51AM
by The Landlord
The Auckland real estate agent who began his career in 1966 was elected president at the institute's annual general meeting in Christchurch this week.
Mr Morley was previously deputy president, and takes over from Christchurch's Graeme Woodley after a two-year term. He takes on the high-profile job after one of the most buoyant periods for real estate in New Zealand's history.
Mr Morley dismissed dire predictions that the market would crash. "It has levelled off, but it's not showing any drastic signs of diving. The actual price has held up over the last four months. The median price has improved, but the volume has fallen . . .
"I think there's going to be a period of consolidation in the volumes, but there's nothing on the horizon to indicate `the bubble is going to burst' or anything like that' – the economy is very strong, there are a lot of businesses that are very, very successful, and unemployment rates are low, which is all good for real estate."
