Confidence has softened only slightly from New Zealanders wanting to buy property

ASB's Housing Confidence Survey for the three months to July, suggests a net 26 percent believe it's a good time to buy - a small drop on the 28 percent last quarter.

Chief Economist Nick Tuffley says there are lots of listings at the moment, low levels of competition and improvements in affordability.

He says the market's been a bit slow to get going but we will see a gradual uptick.

Tuffley says we will need to see sales activity pick up a bit to drive the stock level down - and then prices will likely edge up.