July Market Update

House prices in the regions continue to grow faster than in Auckland at the same time as the number of properties available for sale across New Zealand drops fast, according to June 2016 data released by REINZ.

Five regions hit new record high median sale prices, while the national median price eased slightly (1%) to $500,000 from $506,000 last month. The Waikato/Bay of Plenty region recorded its fifth record median sale price for 2016, reaching $438,000, with the median price in Auckland reaching $821,000. Northland recorded a new record median of $360,000, while Otago reached $295,000 and Central Otago Lakes hit $730,050.

According to the latest figures released by REINZ, source of the most recent, complete and accurate real estate data in New Zealand, the number of sales for June 2016 was 7,864, a drop of 13% on May, in line with the general trend at this time of the year although an increase of 6% on June 2015.

For the Nelson/Marlborough region the median price across the region rose $56,100 (+16%) compared to June 2015, with prices rising 25% in Nelson, 19% in Motueka and 16% in Marlborough/Kaikoura.

The number of days to sell in April was again steady at 28 days compared to May. Over the past 10 years the number of days to sell in June across the region has averaged 43 days. The level of inventory available for sale has fallen by half over the past 12 months and is now just over 12 weeks.

REINZ Spokesman, Bryan Thomson noted that “There is an increasing number of first home buyers and investors active across the region with the number of properties for sale continuing to decline.  Multiple offers are becoming increasingly common, with buyers having to move quickly to secure purchases. At the same time the steady upward trend in the median price is fueling vendor expectations.”

For our local Motueka market and surrounds we continue to experience shortening days on market with the median days on market further reducing to 49 for the month of June.

The average sale price was 9% over the current capital value with the median house price at $460,000 for June. The level of inventory available for sale has risen slightly from 6 to 8 weeks over the last month.

Looking towards the end of winter & early spring providing the banks do not change the rules it looks like the market is going to remain much the same for a few months yet.

Content and statistics quoted in this article are sourced from REINZ and in-house, while we endeavor to keep the figures as accurate as possible they cannot be guaranteed.