Selling a Wellington home in 2025: expert advice

Craig tells us that the current picture for Wellington’s property market is one of balance and stability, compared to recent years.

“Last year, we saw a roughly 33% increase in new properties coming to market across Wellington,” he says, while noting that this growth was coming off a really low base. All this means that 2024 saw a much more balanced market than 2022/2023.

Craig explains that, in a downturn (as we saw in 2022/23), sellers tend to delay decisions, which can lead to some paralysis in the market. By contrast, Craig says, “We’re seeing sellers come back to market now, as people realise we’re probably past the bottom of the market in terms of sales volumes. It’s a better time to sell now compared to early 2023 by some margin.”

Looking to the future, Craig predicts “a relatively normal, stable market (through 2025) where prices are neither going up dramatically, but are no longer falling. We’ll likely see a little bit more volume in the market, but not as dramatic as last year. So far, to the middle of January, we’re seeing a 9% increase in listings compared to 2024.”

“While the public sector cuts are a variable, I’d argue that it’s their effect on sentiment that has the greatest influence on the market", Craig tells us.

However, he’s quick to point out that, following the Great Financial Crash (GFC) of the late noughties, sellers behaved similarly for a time, before reversing course: “a lot of people who delayed selling following the GFC eventually realised that the market wasn’t going to return to peak prices in a hurry, and that they didn’t want to hold off any longer.”

Craig is keen to emphasise that would-be sellers should try and rid themselves of the thought that they’ve “somehow lost something between 2021 and now”. He reminds us that the COVID-19 spike in house prices was an anomaly, and that house prices are still relatively high historically.

“The reality is that, if you’d sold just one year before that 2021 COVID-19 spike, you’d have been perfectly happy with your sale price. Well, those are the prices we’re now back to.”

Craig says that, for most sellers, “if you’ve got a short to medium term need to sell, you should just do it”.

“Assuming that you’ve got equity in the home, and you’re planning to buy and sell in the same market, there’s no point in delaying the decision if all the other variables (for example, life plans) are saying it’s better to go now”.

Craig does single out one cohort who should be more cautious, however. “If you were a first home buyer in 2021, and currently sitting on negative equity, you’re probably going to have to hold on for quite a bit longer before it would be wise to sell,” he advises.

“Presentation is always important,” Craig says, adding that he’s a “huge believer in home staging” as part of the selling process. He notes that Wellingtonians have typically been a little hesitant to stage, which is understandable given the extra costs that this entails, but that he’s “convinced that you see a return” on that investment. He says that there’s a huge difference for a potential buyer when they walk into an empty house “that feels colder and smaller because it’s just four white walls and a carpet, compared to if you open it up with well thought-out staging and colour coordination”.

Importantly, Craig draws a distinction between presentation and renovation: “at the moment, building costs have gone up so much that, generally speaking, a major renovation isn’t the right thing to do, economically.”

What counts as a major renovation? As a rule of thumb, Craig tells us that homeowners should be spending “hundreds, possibly thousands, but not tens of thousands” on these projects in the current environment.

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes,” Craig tells us, reminding us that we saw the Wellington property market flat for seven years following the GFC. “It may not be that long this time (before we see capital gains in Wellington’s market), but it could be.”

So, while the reduction to interest rates are “a good thing for the market, they’re only one variable”, and the other factors that play a role – such as employment rates and economic sentiment – will need to get onto a more positive track before we start to see real movement, and “this happens over years, not months”.

So, for those with equity in their property, and a desire to sell, “it’s better to go now rather than delay.”