Property market spring peak fades as asking prices dip $30k

Thursday, 11 December 2025

When the sparkle of the Christmas lights fades and the trees are boxed away, a different kind of decoration is expected to reappear on front lawns in the New Year - For Sale signs.

Trade Me Property’s latest Pulse report showed the national average asking price fell across the country by -3.5% to $851,950, dropping back from October’s spring peak.

Even so, prices are 0.8% up on a year ago.

Trade Me Property customer director Gavin Lloyd said the November slide was typical of the end-of-year slowdown.

“While the national average asking price is down around $30,000 on October, it’s important to keep in mind the market is still trending upwards compared to a year ago,” he said.

“As a whole, the market is showing a lot more stability than in recent years.”

And he said the moment the “For Sale” signs go back up in the New Year, they anticipatedsome pent-up demand would return to the market, especially with improving affordability and falling interest rates acting as a tailwind.

Most regions recorded month-on-month falls in November. Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne saw the largest drops - 10 and 9% respectively.

But Lloyd said Gisborne’s annual performance stood out.

“Gisborne is one to note. While it recorded one of the largest dips of the 15 regions we monitor compared to October, year-on-year it’s a big winner with the average asking price jumping more than 21% to $658,050 in November.

As a smaller market, Gisborne’s house prices could fluctuate more than a bigger city, however for eight of the past 11 months it had recorded year-on-year increases, a fairly steady record.

Both Manawatū/Whanganui and Wellington rose a touch - 0.3% to $588,250 and 0.4% to $800,400 respectively - but were largely flat month-to-month.

The West Coast was up 5% to $510,700, Taranaki rose more than 3% to $697,100, and Nelson/Tasman climbed over 2% to $893,000.

Lloyd said Taranaki was also performing strongly year-on-year, up close to 6%, with Otago also up more than 4% on the back of gains in Central Otago and Clutha.

For the first time in a while Canterbury showed a drop of -2.3% to $720,000.

Lloyd said both new listings and demand softened in November, with supply down 13% from October and demand slipping 5%.

“The market is heading into the Christmas slowdown, exactly as expected,” Lloyd said. “But that seasonal dip shouldn’t distract from the bigger picture.”

Year-on-year, demand is up 22% and properties are selling on average two days faster than in November 2024.

“This tells us there isn’t a lack of willing buyers — there’s just a temporary lull as many around the motu prepare for the festive and holiday season,” he said.

Lloyd said he expected activity to rebound quickly once the holidays were over.