Summer heat hits property market around New Zealand
New Zealand’s median house price rose 8.6 per cent year-on-year to hit a record $630,000 in November, Real Estate Institute statistics show.
Ten regions had record house prices and Auckland properties changed hands for a median $885,000 – the highest price in 32 months.
Among the record-setting regions were Waikato, up 11.3 per cent from last year to $590,000, Hawke’s Bay, up 14 per cent to $535,800, Wellington, up 12.1 per cent to $695,000 and Nelson, up 16.6 per cent to $610,000.
Only two regions reported an annual decline in median prices – Northland down 1.2 per cent to $499,000 and Tasman down 2.7 per cent to $602,000.
‘‘November was a very strong month price-wise, with record median prices seen in 10 regions and a record equal in Manawatu¯ Whanganui,’’ Real Estate Institute chief executive Bindi Norwell said.
‘‘This is the highest number of regional records we’ve seen in a single month since March 2005.’’
A new national record median price of $630,000 was set and 24 territorial authorities around the country had record median prices including Whangarei District, Auckland City, Tauranga City, Napier City, Kapiti Coast District, Lower and Upper Hutt cities, Nelson City, Christchurch City, Dunedin City and Invercargill City.
‘‘The Auckland market has seen prices increase for three months in a row, suggesting that we’re now entering a new normal for the country’s biggest real estate market where the increasing levels of confidence in the property market coupled with low interest rates and a lack of choice of new listings mean people are prepared to pay more for properties than they were a few months ago.’’
The median price for Auckland was a $22,000 increase from last month, the highest in 32 months.
‘‘However, median prices were mixed across the wider Auckland region with the likes of Auckland City seeing an 8.4 per cent increase on November 2018 to a record of $1.03 million, Franklin District remaining flat on $702,000 but North Shore City seeing a 6.2 per cent annual decrease to $985,000.’’
There were 7405 properties sold in New Zealand in November, a drop of 1.9 per cent from the same time last year.
In Auckland, the number of properties sold in November rose by 8.7 per cent year-on-year – the highest number of residential properties sold in the month of November since 2015.
‘‘We’re beginning to hear anecdotal evidence from agents around the country that with the ongoing lack of listings, which has led to rising median prices, we’re now starting to see the gap widening between vendor expectations and what purchasers are willing to pay for a property in some parts of the country,’’ Norwell said.
‘‘With more than 9000 fewer listings than 2018 and more than 13,000 fewer listings than in 2017, we can expect to see this pattern of lower sales volumes continue for the immediate future, unless we start to see more properties for sale across most parts of the country.’’
In November the median number of days to sell a property nationally fell by two days from 35 to 33 compared with November last year. Auctions were used in 17.1 per cent of sales across the country.