November Market Comment

REINZ, the most up to date source of real estate data in New Zealand, announced that nationwide there were 7,838 dwelling sales during October 2015, up 18.6% on October 2014.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) Chief Executive Colleen Milne says, “The drop in the number of sales in Auckland in October is the result of a softening of demand over the past few months and the new IRD and bank account rules introduced at the start of October. However, the fundamental supply and demand drivers of the Auckland market remain in place, and the result for October is indicative of the market adjustment phase as it adapts to these new requirements.

“Elsewhere across the country we are seeing increasing demand and rising prices as buyers of all types emerge to take advantage of low interest rates. It is further evidence of the ‘halo’ effect of Auckland-based buyers searching for value in regional markets. During winter and into early spring, the property markets in a number of regions have been far more active than would normally be expected, thus a slowdown or pause is not surprising following this burst of activity.”

For the Nelson/Marlborough region the median price across the region rose $29,000 (+8%) compared to October 2014 to reach a new record high. Sales volume compared to October 2014 rose 21%, with sales rising 70% in Richmond, 30% in Nelson and 24% Motueka.

REINZ Chief Executive, Colleen Milne noted that “Activity in the $350,000 – $550,000 range has certainly increased with both first home buyers and investors. Listings remain a real problem across the region, and although there has been a spring influx of listings this has not been enough to keep up with demand.”

For the wider Motueka market the number of new properties coming on to the market increased on the previous month and on the same time last October so a good spring surge and very much needed to keep up with the buyer demand. There were a strong number of sales for the month with the average sale price 4% above the current capital value and on the back of a number of high value sales the medium price jumped up to $457,000.

With the inertia the market has at present I can see us having a busy run up to Christmas and most likely plenty of activity into the New Year.

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