Listings up 11% and unsold overhang near 24,500 ahead of summer
An estimated 24,500 homes sat unsold at the end of September after more than a month on the market, handing buyers the upper hand heading into summer, according to analysis by interest.co.nz.
Listings, unsold stock, and withdrawn properties are all running well above last year’s levels, pointing to a slow spring and summer season.
A growing backlog of unsold homes
The overhang is up 15% on a year earlier and 52% on September 2023. By the one-month mark, most properties have completed a normal marketing campaign and risk being overlooked as buyer interest fades. Greg Ninness of interest.co.nz wrote “we think those estimates are on the conservative side”.
Total stock is also high for the time of year. Realestate.co.nz had 34,001 residential properties for sale at the end of September 2026, up 11% on September 2025 and 50% on September 2023.
The overhang was more than four times the number of sales recorded by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) for the month, up from three times a year earlier. REINZ’s September 2026 property market figures also point to a slowing market, with sales down 11.6% on a year earlier, the national median price down 2.3% to $755,000, and homes taking a median 46 days to sell, three days longer than in September 2025.
Vendors pulling out
More than 2,600 properties dropped out of the market in September, a 13% rise on the same month last year, according to interest.co.nz. Dropouts are listings that have been withdrawn or are no longer actively marketed, usually because vendors won’t lower their price expectations.
Ninness wrote that such properties are “dead in the water” in the current market.
REINZ chief executive Lizzy Ryley struck a more measured tone.
“Buyers are moving forward when the property, price and timing suit their circumstances, while many vendors recognise that achieving a sale may require patience,” Ryley said.
Rates add pressure
With mortgage rates rising, Ninness wrote that buyers were likely to drive even harder bargains because “the advantage lies squarely with them”.
The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) lifted the official cash rate (OCR) to 2.75% in September, and about 64% of New Zealand mortgages are due to reprice within the next 12 months, according to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER).
Westpac expects further increases, tipping a pause in October before a rise to 3% in December, and has cut its 2026 house price forecast to a 1.4% fall.
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