Kiwi Houses Selling Like Hotcakes

Houses are selling like hotcakes with the average kiwi home taking just 27 days to sell, the latest Trade Me Property data shows.

Trade Me Property Sales Director Gavin Lloyd said the site had analysed the time a property spends onsite to determine how fast they’re selling. “Prior to the Covid-19 lockdowns, in February last year, the average time onsite for a property was 45 days. In the past month, that’s dropped 40 per cent and houses are now spending less than a month on the market.

“It’s pretty astounding to see properties being snapped up so quick and this shows how much the New Zealand property landscape has changed in the last year.”

Mr Lloyd said the increasing demand for property was behind the trend. “In March, nationwide demand for properties for sale was up 26 per cent on the month prior. We’re hearing anecdotally that buyers are pulling out all the stops to secure a property whether it’s handwriting a personalised letter or trying to bring tenders and auction dates forward.

“With winter approaching, we would typically expect to see things cool off as property buyers and sellers retreat for the colder months. However, looking at our data it doesn’t appear that this will be a normal winter for the property market.”

Wellington properties selling the quickest

“Buyers in the Wellington region were the quickest off the mark with the average time onsite at just 21 days while properties for sale within Wellington City took a mere 20 days to sell. That’s a 13 per cent drop in just one year.”

Mr Lloyd said when they looked at the average time onsite by sale type, deadline sales and tenders were the quickest methods of sale in the capital.

“Properties for sale by tender in Wellington City spent just 18 days on the market while deadline sales spent only 17 days. Demand for property in Wellington City has been climbing for the past few years and in March the number of views on properties for sale in the district was up a ‘staggering’ 27 per cent on the year prior - that’s what’s driving these faster sales.”

Christchurch houses join the race for the fastest to sell

Mr Lloyd said the Christchurch market had sped up considerably over the last year with the average time onsite for a house in the Garden City sitting at just 24 days in March. Just a year ago, the average time was 35 days.

“The Christchurch property market has really started to heat up in the last couple of months after years of relatively small price growth. In fact, houses in Christchurch City are now selling faster than Auckland City.

“This isn’t hugely surprising considering demand for property in Christchurch rose 34 per cent in March when compared to the year prior.”

Mr Lloyd said in the wider Canterbury region, properties were spending an average of 29 days on the market, a significant 33 per cent drop from 43 days this time last year.

Auckland homes gone in just three weeks

“In the Auckland region, houses were also selling much faster than this time last year with an average time onsite of just 28 days, that compares to 34 days in March last year.”

In Auckland City, houses are spending an average of 26 days on the market and the fastest method of sale was auction at just 22 days. This was closely followed by deadline sale at 26 days and tender at 27 days.

“Demand for property in Auckland City continues to grow and in March the number of views on properties for sale in the Super City was up 12 per cent on the year prior.”

Fourteen regions see double-digit drop in average time onsite

Every region in New Zealand apart from Gisborne saw houses sell faster in March than the same time last year, according to Mr Lloyd.

“The biggest jumps were seen in the Waikato, where houses sold in 27 days compared to 46 days last year, and the Bay of Plenty, where houses sold in 26 days compared to 43.”

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