Lifestyle Market Softens Further

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) shows there were 369 fewer lifestyle property sales (-16.8%) for the three months ended December 2017 than for the three months ended December 2016. Overall, there were 1,822 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended December 2017, compared to 1,831 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended November 2017 (-0.5%), and 2,191 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended December 2016.

7,637 lifestyle properties were sold in the year to December 2017, 1,399 (-15.5%) fewer than were sold in the year to December 2016. The value of lifestyle properties sold was $6.04 billion for the year to December 2017.

The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to December 2017 was $655,750 and was $72,750 higher compared to the three months ended December 2016 (+12.5%).

Brian Peacocke, Rural Spokesman, at REINZ says: “While sales volumes for the 3-month period ending December 2017 eased from the same period in 2016, there was still a significant drop of over 20 % for the month of December compared to the previous month.

“The impact of the holiday period may give some explanation, but in some specific regions, namely Northland and Taranaki, the collapse exceeded 50 % from one month to the next.

“Those regions holding their own included Hawke’s Bay, Nelson/Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland, a pleasing outcome for real estate companies in the South Island, particularly considering the shortened month due to the onset of the holiday period,” he concludes.

Two regions recorded an increase in sales compared to December 2016. Manawatu/Wanganui recorded the most substantial increase in sales (+15 sales) in the three months to December 2017 compared to December 2016. Compared to November 2017, six regions recorded an increase in sales.

Most of the regions saw the median price of lifestyle blocks increase between the three months ending December 2016 and the three months ending December 2017. The most notable examples were in West Coast (+55%), Gisborne (+46%) and Otago (+34%), with the most notable exception was Northland whose median price fell 8% over the year.

The median number of days to sell for lifestyle properties eased two days in the three months to December 2017 compared to the three months to December 2016, sitting at 55 days. Compared to the three months ended November 2017 the median number of days to sell improved seven days. Nelson recorded the shortest number of days to sell in December 2017 at 44 days, followed by Hawke’s Bay and Wellington (47 days), Waikato (49 days) and Auckland and Bay of Plenty (50 days). West Coast recorded the longest number of days to sell at 253 days, followed by Taranaki at 102 days and Northland at 68 days.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand

For more real estate information and market trends data, visit www.reinz.co.nz. For New Zealand's most comprehensive range of listings for residential, lifestyle, rural, commercial, investment and rental properties, visit www.realestate.co.nz - REINZ's official property directory website.

The information provided by REINZ in relation to the lifestyle real estate market covers the most recently completed three month period; thus references to December refer to the period from 1 October 2017 to 31 December 2017.

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