A Healthy Surge in the Market

A Healthy Surge in the Market

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows there were 142 more lifestyle property sales (+8.5%) for the three months ended November 2019 than for the three months ended October 2019. Overall, there were 1,806 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended November 2019, compared to 1,769 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended November 2018 (+2.1%), and 1,664 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended October 2019.

6,952 lifestyle properties were sold in the year to November 2019, 180 (-2.5%) fewer than were sold in the year to November 2018. The value of lifestyle properties sold was $5.59 billion for the year to November 2019.

The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to November 2019 was $700,000 and was $35,000 higher compared to the three months ended November 2018 (+5.3%).

Brian Peacocke, Rural Spokesman, at REINZ says: “Sales data for the 3-month period ending November 2019 confirms the trend of increasing volumes evidenced last month in most regions around the country, the southern regions being the only exception to this trend.

“The strength of the market was confirmed by the improvement in the national median price from $695,000 last month to $700,000 for the current period,” he concludes.

Points of Interest around New Zealand include:

• Upper North - steady increases in volumes in Northland, Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty with solid median prices for all apart from an easing in the Bay of Plenty. Of note was the good spread of activity throughout Northland and Auckland regions, with Rodney district in particular again featuring strongly
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• Mid North Island - Gisborne, Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki regions performed well with a notable increase in the median price for Gisborne in particular, albeit countered by an easing in Taranaki
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• Lower North Island - Manawatu/Wanganui and Wairarapa recorded improvements in sales volumes and whilst numbers eased in Wellington, the region experienced a good uplift in the median price with a solid level of sales in excess of $1m
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• Upper South Island - good increases in volumes in the Nelson/Marlborough and West Coast regions with corresponding increases in the median price; results in the Tasman district in particular were very good
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• Mid to Lower South Island - softening in volumes throughout Canterbury where the median price has eased; a similar decrease in volumes in the Otago region albeit a solid increase in the median price where no particular district stood out, and a minor strengthening of both volume and median price in Southland where consistency prevailed.
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Ten regions recorded an increase in sales compared to November 2018. Northland recorded the most substantial increase in sales (+30 sales) in the three months to November 2019 compared to November 2018. Compared to October 2019, 13 regions recorded an increase in sales.

Nine regions saw the median price of lifestyle blocks increase between the three months ending November 2018 and the three months ending November 2019. The most notable examples were in Manawatu-Wanganui (+26%), Gisborne (24%) and Otago (+24%) and the most notable exceptions were West Coast (-13%) and Hawke’s Bay (-10%).

The median number of days to sell for lifestyle properties was four days longer in the three months to November 2019 than in the three months to November 2018, sitting at 63 days. Compared to the three months ended October 2019 the median number of days to sell was seven days shorter. Manawatu/Wanganui recorded the shortest number of days to sell in November 2019 at 39 days, followed by Wellington (42 days) and Gisborne (45 days). West Coast recorded the longest number of days to sell at 149 days, followed by Nelson at 104 days and Northland at 86 days.

ENDS

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