REINZ: 2019 year in review for the real estate profession

Median Sale Price
• The National median sale price increased 5.6% for the 11 months ending November 2019 ($586,000) when compared to the 11 months ending November 2018 ($555,000)
• The median sale price for New Zealand excluding Auckland increased 7.7% for the 11 months ending November 2019 ($495,500) when compared to the 11 months ending November 2018 ($460,000)
• The Auckland median sale price decreased -0.6% for the 11 months ending November 2019 ($845,000) when compared to the 11 months ending November 2018 ($850,000)

Sales Count
• The number of residential properties sold across New Zealand for the 11 months ending November 2019 totalled 70,882 which is a -2.6% decrease on the same period last year, when 72,746 properties were sold
• The number of residential properties sold across New Zealand excluding Auckland for the 11 months ending November 2019 totalled 50,219 which is a -2.1% decrease on the same period last year when 51,271 properties were sold
• The number of residential properties sold across Auckland region for the 11 months ending November 2019 totalled 20,663 which is a -3.8% decrease on the same period last year when 21,475 properties were sold.
Days to sell
• The median number of days to sell a residential property across New Zealand increased 2 days for the 11 months ending November 2019 compared to the 11 months ending November 2018 (from 35 to 37 days)
• The median number of days to sell a residential property across New Zealand excluding Auckland increased 2 days for the 11 months ending November 2019 compared to the 11 months ending November 2018 (from 34 to 36 days)
• The median number of days to sell a residential property across Auckland region increased 5 days for the 11 months ending November 2019 compared to the 11 months ending November 2018 (from 36 to 41 days).
Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ says: “The 2019 property market has been influenced by a number of key themes including:
1. The ongoing effects of the foreign buyer ban which came into effect in late 2018 and appears to have impacted sales volumes, but not had the intended flow-on effect for sales prices
2. the further stabilisation of pricing in the Auckland market which has hovered around $850,000 for about three and a half years now – although the last three months have started to show signs of an uplift
3. The continued strength of the regions in terms of price growth with increased demand and a lack of supply of properties, putting pressure on prices in some areas
4. The record low OCR and low bank lending rates has meant eased accessibility for more first time buyers
5. The proposed Capital Gains Tax which caused many people, particularly investors, to take a ‘wait and see’ approach.
“2019 has been another interesting year for the real estate industry – we’ve seen record median prices reached in many parts of the country, with November itself seeing 10 new regional records and one record equal. The strengthening prices across the country have potentially had an impact on the sales volume with numbers down -2.6% across the country. However, when we look at the total value of property sold in the 11 months ending November 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, we see a 0.2% increase, showing that the overall spend across New Zealand in the property market throughout the year is remaining rather steady,” continues Norwell.
“We are expecting 2020 to be another good year for the industry, with regional growth continuing and Auckland potentially starting to see some uplift in the year to come,” concludes Norwell.
New Zealand

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