1st October 2012

Asking price expectations steady for Spring, with an active property market continuing to favour sellers
Seasonal lift in new listings
The level of new listings coming onto the market in September rose in line with seasonal trends. September saw an increase of 7.6% on August, and a slight increase of 0.3% on September last year.

Asking prices expectation steadies

Asking prices remain strong, up 0.9% as compared to a year ago and down by just 0.3% for the month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Slight fall in house inventory levels

The stock of unsold houses in September fell slightly to 30.5 weeks of stock (based on the rate of sale). This is well down on the long-term average of 40 weeks (9 months). Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury are the main regions witnessing the extent of this trend.

Market continues to reflect a sellers market

The overall market is firmly pointed in favour of sellers across the majority of New Zealand, with 15 of the 19 regions below the long-term average inventory levels.

Jul 2012

Aug 2012

Sep 2012

Property Asking Price (seasonally

adjusted - truncated mean)

$429,181
+ 1% + 4%

$430,443
+ 0.3% + 1.7%

$429,312
- 0.3 + 0.9

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

Number of New Listings

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

9,411
- 2% + 5%

10,365
+ 10.1% + 2.4%

11,514
+ 7.6% + 0.3%

Inventory - Number of weeks of equivalent sales (seasonally adjusted )

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

31.0
+ 4% - 23%

30.9
+ 0% - 23%

30.5
- 1% - 21%

Realestate.co.nz is the official website of the New Zealand real estate industry, and provides the most comprehensive selection of listings from licensed real estate agents across all categories. Realestate.co.nz features over 110,000 listings at any one time, representing over 97% of all listings currently marketed by real estate professionals.
Released: 1st October 2012 Page 1 - Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz 021 618 537

1st October 2012

Commentary
The property market has now fully entered its traditional spring period, an active time in the market with new listings appearing as the weather improves. After finishing winter strongly, the market is indicating that we will continue to see good levels of activity in the market in the lead up to the end of the year. The start of spring has seen steady levels of new listings coming onto the market, falling in-line with the levels of listings seen in September last year (with a 7.6% increase on August, bringing the market over 11,500 new listings). Inventory levels across the country remain low, and the market remains a firm sellers market across 15 of NZs 19 regions, and overall stocks of unsold houses fell slightly to 30.5 weeks of inventory (long term average = 40 weeks). Auckland is the most affected by low inventory levels, with stocks of unsold houses falling to a new low of 17.4 weeks of inventory, well below the long-term average of 32 weeks. The early spring property market continues to show signs of confidence and heightened activity. Confidence amongst sellers bringing their properties onto the market stabilised in September, with the truncated mean asking price steadying at $429,312. Asking Price The seasonally adjusted truncated mean asking price for listings in September fell slightly. The September figure of $429,312 was down just 0.3% year-on-year on a seasonally adjusted basis as compared to September last year. The trend as seen in the chart opposite continues to show strength in seller expectation on the back of low listings and strong demand in the main centers. New Listings The level of new listings coming onto the market in September increased from August with 11,514 listings in the month - up from the 10,365 in August (7.6% increase). Seasonal trends of new spring listings remains true, showing a small 0.3% increase in listings when compared to September last year. On a 12 month moving average basis a total of 130,915 new listings have come onto the market since October 2011 as compared to 125,102 in the prior 12 month period, this represents a rise of just 4.7%. Inventory The level of unsold houses on the market at the end of September (44,063) remained stable, when compared to August (44,291) as measured on a seasonally adjusted basis. The inventory as measured in terms of equivalent weeks of sales fell slightly last month to 30.5 weeks last month. Auckland showed another new record low number of unsold houses in September with levels falling to 9,567 or just 17.5 equivalent weeks of sales (Auckland long term average = 32 weeks)

Released: 1st October 2012 Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz 021 618 537 This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz

1st October 2012

Regional Summary Asking price expectations

The national (seasonally adjusted) truncated mean asking price expectation among sellers fell slightly in September by 0.3% to $429,312. In the main centres, both Wellington and Canterbury saw increases in September, with Wellington increasing 3% to $447,388. The asking price in Auckland witnessed a slight fall in September (down 1.8% to $574,798). In total 10 regions reported asking price increases, and 4 regions saw rises greater than 5%. The most significant rises were seen in the Coromandel, Central North Island, Taranaki, West Coast and Nelson regions, with Nelson showing the largest increases, up 10% to $455,705. Of the 9 regions witnessing asking price falls on a seasonally adjusted basis there was just 1 reporting a fall greater than 5% with Manawatu / Wanganui seeing a fall of 7.4%.

Released: 1st October 2012 Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz 021 618 537 This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz

1st October 2012

Regional Summary Listings

Overall listings volume was steady on a national basis, however across the regions there were slightly more regions showing increases than falls. There were 11 regions reporting year-on-year rises with Southland reporting an increase of 26.6%, and Marlborough seeing the largest increase of listings (up 38.5%). 8 regions reported lower new listings than September last year with Central Otago / Lakes being the region to report the highest fall off of 35.2% when compared to September 2011. Canterbury continues to see new listings fall again compared last year and remains under pressure to meet buyer demand.

Regional Summary Inventory

Market sentiment continues to favour sellers nationally with inventory of unsold houses on the market remaining well below long term average based on equivalent rate of sale. Two regions (Taranaki and West Coast) showed increases in inventory of homes on the market taking them above their respective long-term average. In addition three other regions (Central North Island, Southland, and Otago) sit close to their respective long term averages indicating a more balanced market. These 5 regions aside, the remaining 14 regions all remain sellers markets with the greatest strain being felt in the 4 regions which are marked in dark blue which includes the main metro areas of Auckland, and Canterbury, which remain under pressure from low listings as measured against sales activity.

Released: 1st October 2012 Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz 021 618 537 This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz

1st October 2012

Major Centers Auckland

Jul 2012 Aug 2012 Sep 2012

Property Asking Price (seasonally

adjusted - truncated mean)

$574,932
+ 3% + 6%

$585,482
+ 1.8% + 8.2%

$574,798
- 1.8% + 3.2%

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

Number of New Listings

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

3,333
- 2% + 10%

3,707
+11.2% + 0.1%

3,666
-1.1% 0.2%

Inventory - Number of weeks

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

18.9
+ 4% - 25%

18.0
- 4% - 34%

17.4
- 3% - 35%

Wellington
Jul 2012 Aug 2012 Sep 2012

Property Asking Price (seasonally

adjusted - truncated mean)

$442,590
+ 3% + 3%

$434,493
- 1.8% + 2%

$447,388
+ 3% + 4.1%

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

Number of New Listings

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

616
- 10% - 7%

727
+ 18% + 3.7

918
+ 26.3% + 2.7%

Inventory - Number of weeks

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

20.6
+ 10% - 2%

19.4
- 6% - 14%

20.4
+ 5% - 8%

Released: 1st October 2012 Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz 021 618 537 This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz

1st October 2012

Canterbury
Jul 2012 Aug 2012 Sep 2012

Property Asking Price (seasonally

adjusted - truncated mean)

$393,433
+ 1% + 9%

$374,732
- 4.8% + 3.4%

$381,345
+ 1.8% + 3.7%

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

Number of New Listings

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

1,129
+ 8% - 4%

1,026
- 9.1% - 8.8%

1,208
+ 17.7% - 8.9%

Inventory - Number of weeks

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

18.4
+ 12% - 52%

19.6
+ 7% - 34%

20.1
+ 3% - 22%

Waikato
Jul 2012 Aug 2012 Sep 2012

Property Asking Price (seasonally

adjusted - truncated mean)

$349,303
- 1% + 3%

$355,707
+ 1.8% + 8.2%

$354,417
- 0.4% + 2.6%

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

Number of New Listings

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

595
- 10% + 8%

684
+ 15% + 2.2%

862
+ 26% + 17%

Inventory - Number of weeks

% change from previous month % change from same month last year

35.1
- 5% - 17%

39.9
+ 14% - 7%

35.1
- 12% - 17%

Released: 1st October 2012 Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz 021 618 537 This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz

1st October 2012

Lifestyle Lifestyle property listings had a boost across the country in September, rising by 29% when compared to August. A total of 951 listings came onto the market, showing an increase of 8.3% when compared to September last year. The truncated mean asking price for these listings was up by 1.8% as compared to the recent 3-month average to $649,343. When measured against September last year the asking price is up 8.3%

Apartments
Listings for apartments in September were down 9.8% when compared to August, with 477 being brought to the market (on a year-on-year basis listings were down 3%). The truncated mean asking price of new apartment listings rose to $399,489 in September from $349,192 in August, representing an increase of 10.2% on the recent 3-month average. The Auckland apartment market followed the national trend with 264 new listings coming onto the market, down 11.7% when compared to September last year. The truncated mean asking price of new listings in Auckland rose to $366,057 (September) from $334,130 (August) representing a 5.5% increase on the prior 3 months.

Released: 1st October 2012 Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz 021 618 537 This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz

1st October 2012

Notes
Realestate.co.nz: data is compiled from asking prices of new residential listings as they come onto the market via subscribers to the realestate.co.nz website. The Realestate.co.nz website currently has over 97% of all licensed real estate offices subscribing and providing all of their listings onto the website. The asking price is presented as a truncated mean price at a 10% interval. Truncated mean The monthly asking price for new listings presented in this report utilises the measure of truncated mean. This measure is judged to be a more accurate measure of the market price than average price as it statistically removes the extremes that exist within any property market that can so easily introduce a skew to traditional average price figures. The truncated mean used in this report removes the upper 10% and the lower 10% of listings in each data set. An average or mean of the balance of listings is then calculated. Methodology With the largest database of properties for sale in NZ, Realestate.co.nz is uniquely placed to immediately identify any changes in the marketplace. The realestate.co.nz NZ Property Report is compiled from new listings coming onto the market from the total of just less than 1,000 licensed real estate offices across NZ, representing more than 96% of all offices. With an average monthly level of over 10,000 new listings, the Realestate.co.nz NZ Property Report provides the largest monthly sample report on the residential property market, as well as a more timely view of the property market than any other property report. The data is collated and analysed at the close of each month, and the st Report is compiled for the 1 day of the following month. This provides a feedback mechanism as to the immediate state of the market, well in advance of sales statistics, which by the very nature of the selling process can reflect activity with a lag of between 2 and 4 months. Seasonally adjustment The core data for the NZ Property Report is seasonally adjusted to better represent the core underlying trend of the property market in NZ. In preparing this seasonally adjusted data Realestate.co.nz is grateful for the assistance of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) who use an X12 ARIMA methodology to calculate seasonally adjusted data. Background to Realestate.co.nz Realestate.co.nz is the official website of the real estate industry of New Zealand, it is an industry owned website providing online marketing services to the real estate industry. The shareholders in the website comprise the REINZ (50%) and five of the largest real estate companies (50%). The website is the most comprehensive website for licensed real estate agent listings in NZ, currently hosting over 110,000 listings, covering residential property for sale and rent, commercial property for sale and lease, rural properties and farms, as well as businesses for sale. With a subscriber base of just under 1,000 offices, the website features over 97% of all listings from licensed real estate agents in NZ. Over 410,000 unique browsers visited Realestate.co.nz in the month of August both domestic and international visitors. The website is the most popular website for international visitors enquiring of NZ real estate, with over 110,000 unique international browsers in the month of August from more than 200 countries. In addition Realestate.co.nz regularly receives over 25% of all traffic to property listings from mobile devices, including their iPhone and Android applications. To date these applications have been downloaded by over 110,000 users making the app the most popular real estate app in NZ.

Released: 1st October 2012 Copyright 2012, Realestate.co.nz Ltd For media enquiries and interviews please contact: Paul McKenzie Marketing Manager Realestate.co.nz 021 618 537 This report can be accessed at www.unconditional.co.nz