May Market Update

Sales volumes hit new levels and median house prices reached new record highs across more regions of New Zealand than ever before, according to the latest figures released today by REINZ, source of the most recent, complete and accurate real estate data in New Zealand.

The availability of properties for sale has fallen by over one third over the past 12 months, with a number of regions seeing declines of more than half. Days to sell, another measure of demand has also fallen by more than 20% over the past 12 months in nine of the twelve regions

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) Chief Executive Colleen Milne says, “The April data confirms the continued strength of the real estate market right across New Zealand, driven by a chronic lack of supply.

“Anecdotal evidence suggests that investors outside of Auckland are increasingly looking to real estate investments to improve their yields compared to bank deposits. First home buyers are also taking advantage of low mortgage rates, putting pressure on the number of properties available for sale.

For the Nelson/Marlborough region the median price rose $36,000 (+10%) compared to April 2015 while sales volumes across the same period rose 29%.

REINZ Chief Executive, Colleen Milne noted that, “The market has continued to perform strongly despite the pull back in prices and volumes after a strong March. The number of properties available for sale continues to decline in the face of rising sales demand, with the level of available supply, falling by 50% over the past 12 months. The number of days to sell also sits at near record lows, also indicative of strong demand.”

For our local Motueka and surrounds market we are experiencing a mini version of the wider NZ market. The number of new listing matched the number of sales last month this along with the last couple of months where sales exceeded listings, we now have a market that is very short on properties for sale.

Overall sale prices are up on the current capital values, in some cases significantly, with the exception of high value properties which on average are selling below their current capital value. The median days on market are still in the 50s but continuing to trend downwards.

Coming in to our winter season I can see a shortage of properties for sale continuing until spring as sellers have traditionally not been keen to market their homes over this period.

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.