Mr Snow, who is the REINZ Central Otago-Southern Lakes spokesman, said latest real estate figures for the Wakatipu Basin had been released and, while the figures show sales volume in the area dropped over 50% last month compared with April 2007, there was plenty of good news for buyers.
"This is the part of the property cycle that buyers in Queenstown have been waiting for."
The figures show that while sales volume had dropped, when compared with April last year, the median price for houses remained much the same and, for sections, was higher.
The Wakatipu Basin figures reflected what was happening nationally.
But for the resort - where for the past seven years local purchasers had had to compete with offshore buyers - the downturn in sales could be seen as positive, Mr Snow said.
What it means for "local buyers" - defined as those living in Queenstown, Otago and Southland - is they are no longer competing to the same extent with overseas purchasers when looking to buy property.
"On the whole, offshore buyers have reduced significantly [in recent years].
"It's been on a straight-line reduction over the past two years.
"There's nothing cynical in it, there is no [crash] looming, it's just a changing demographic."
Mr Snow said the consistently strong New Zealand dollar had kept many offshore buyers waiting for a weakening of the currency before purchasing property in New Zealand.
When the market was "racing along" in 2000, the New Zealand dollar was significantly weaker than it was now, he said.
Other factors were the global "credit crunch", the changes to lending criteria, and the property markets in the UK, the US and Australia - where many buyers came from - performing in a similar way to the New Zealand market.
The markets in these countries appeared to be at similar stages of the property cycle, he said, although he was unsure whether this was an effect of globalisation.
However, Mr Snow stressed there was no reason for panic or gloom.
"We are not in a crash . . . the rug has not been pulled out . . . what we're seeing is a reaction.
"It's a positive thing. If the prices come down . . . it's the other half of the market, the purchasers, having the advantage.
"We've now got the stage to ourselves and we can trade on our own."
The numbers
- Queenstown real estate sales report, April 2008 41 dwellings and 8 sections were sold in April 2008, compared with 86 dwellings and 21 sections in April 2007, totalling 49 sales last month compared with 107 in April 2007.
- The total value of sales for April 2008 was $27,143,500 ($23,327,500 dwellings; $3,816,000 sections).
- In April 2007, the total sales value was $61,264,507 ($52,937,007 dwellings; $8,327,500 sections).
- The median price for dwellings last month was $530,000, compared with $529,500 in April 2007, while the median price for sections last month was $500,000 ($310,000 in April 2007).
- Dwellings took a median of 72 days to sell last month, while sections took a median of 371 days.
- In April 2007, dwellings took a median of 45 days to sell, with sections selling in a median of 120 days.
