21 January 2002
Fourth Quarter Residential Property Statistics ‘Stunning’ - REINZ
Residential property statistics for December 2001, released today by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, confirm
that sales during the last quarter of 2001 soared over those recorded for each corresponding month in 2000, a result
which the national president of the Institute, Mr Rex Hadley describes as “ stunning”.
From October 2000 to October 2001, residential sales increased by 1,700, approximately 36 per cent, while from November
2000 to November 2001, sales increased by 2,071, approximately 36 per cent and the latest statistics show residential
sales increased by 1,536 - approximately 33 per cent, with 6,147 transactions in December 2001 compared to 4,611 in
December 2000.
Mr Hadley said, “Sales in December 2001 are the highest since December 1998, when 6,192 properties change hands.”
While the national sales volume rose significantly from the same month last year, sales eased considerably from the
previous month. The national sales volume of for December 2001 was 6,147, well down the 7,881 sales in November 2001.
Mr Hadley said that this was expected, and was a seasonal effect.
“The effect of the holiday season is reflected by the comparison of December/November volumes. Christmas is
traditionally a slower period for the real estate market, people simply have too many commitments to seriously house
hunt, and realistically December is a two-week month. Typically these factors are reflected in the volumes, however
taking December of last year into account you can see how well improved the residential market is. One only gets the
true picture in year to year comparison.”
The total value of sales nationwide has also improved significantly on a year to year basis, from $936,485,445 for
December 2000 to $1,333,760,829 in December 2001.
He said, “Not only in sales, but also in the total expenditure in the property do we see the residential market is
vastly improved from 2000, and the 1,536 additional transactions between December 2000 and 2001 has seen the total value
of sales increase by over $390 million.”
Property values rose on both year to year basis and month to month comparison, the national median sales price rising
$8,000 to $178,000 in December, compared to the $170,000 recorded in December 2000 and rising $1,800 from the $176,200
for November 2001.
On a month-to-month basis, the median sale price rose for six of the eleven regions, those being; Canterbury/Westland,
Hawkes Bay, Manawatu/Wanganui, Northland, Waikato/BOP/Gisborne and Auckland. Those regions where the median price eased
were, Otago, Southland, Taranaki, Wellington and Nelson/Marlborough.
On a year-to-year basis, the median sale price rose for ten of the eleven regions, the only region recording a decrease
in median price being Nelson/Marlborough.
Section activity eased while median section price remained steady with 449 sections changing hands at a median price of
$85,000, compared to 567 sold during November at the median price of $85,000.
-ENDS-