New Zealand Mortgagee Sales At All Time High

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Mortgagee sales in New Zealand hit a record high in July, signaling that the economic downturn is still hurting property owners, a report released by a property and land information firm Terralink revealed Monday.

Monthly mortgagee sales exceeded 300 for the first time since records began 15 years ago, amounting to a total of 321 sales in July, in contrast to a total of 109 sales recorded in the previous year. The number is ten times greater than a mere 33 sales recorded in July 2007. Mortgagee sales account for 5% of all property sales in New Zealand, up from just 0.003% two years ago, the agency said.

Though recent reports show the New Zealand economy is in recovery, the rising number of mortgagee sales show individual New Zealanders are still being hit by the effects of the recession, Terralink Managing Director Mike Donald said. He noted that months of financial stress and the affects of job losses resulted in some people failing to meet their mortgage payments and one in 20 of all property sales are now mortgagee sales.

In terms of territories, Auckland recorded a total of 144 mortgagee sales, up from 53 in the previous year, while sales in Wellington and Canterbury totaled 26 and 24, respectively. Year-to-date, the total mortgagee sales stood at 1,809, have already overtaken the 1,304 sales for the entire year in 2008, the firm said. Although latest figures show that export volumes and much of the industry is up, many New Zealanders will still be feeling the recession for some time yet, Donald said.

Mortgagee sales in New Zealand hit a record high in July, signaling that the economic downturn is still hurting property owners, a report released by a property and land information firm Terralink revealed Monday. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)