Nine out of 16 regions saw an increase in the number of properties sold
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The number of properties sold in Auckland during February increased by 2.0% to 1,600 (up from 1,568 in February 2017).
Volumes continued to show positive momentum in February with the number of properties sold across New Zealand increasing by 1.2% year-on-year to 6,373 properties.
Regions with the biggest increase in sales count year-on-year were:
- West Coast – up 50.0% (45 sales compared to 30 in February 2017) – the highest number of properties sold since May 2012
- Nelson – up 25.8% (117 sales compared to 93 in February 2017) – the highest number of properties sold since March 2007
- Southland – up 9.7% (170 sales compared to 155 in February 2017).
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said: “In February, 9 out of 16 regions saw an increase in the number of properties sold, pointing to strong regional growth in the majority of the country.
“Nelson saw the highest number of properties sold in nearly 11 years and the West Coast saw the highest number of properties sold in just under 6 years – so there have been some really strong localised results,” says Norwell.
“From a national perspective, we’ve seen the number of properties sold year-on-year increase for two months in a row now. It’s not quite enough data to call a trend, but with nearly 300 more houses sold for the year-to-date when compared to 2017, it’s certainly a positive sign for the industry,” points out Norwell.
The number of properties available for sale nationally increased by 3.2% (from 26,110 to 26,943) compared to 12 months ago. This figure is buoyed by reasonably large inventory increases in Waikato (+15.0% - an additional 252 properties), Auckland (+10.9% - an additional 943 properties) and Canterbury (+10.7% - an additional 387 properties), REINZ reported.
A decrease in inventory in 10 regions saw the New Zealand excluding Auckland level of inventory fall by 0.6% from 17,465 in February 2017 to 17,355 in February 2018.
The Hawke’s Bay region only has 7 weeks’ inventory available to those looking to purchase in the area – the lowest level of inventory in 10 months.
Between February 2017 and February 2018, the number of homes sold for less than $500,000 across New Zealand fell from 50.2% of the market (3,163 properties) to 46.0% of the market (2,930 properties) which is reflected by the overall increasing median price.
However, at the upper end of the market, the percentage of $1 million plus properties sold increased from 11.4% of the market to 13% of the market.
“Taking time to analyse the price bands on a regional basis helps to understand why Gisborne was one of the only regions to experience a decrease in median price during February.
“The number of properties sold in the $500,000 to $750,000 bracket was only 3.8% in February 2018 compared to 11.1% in February 2017. Additionally, the number of properties in the $250,000 to $499,999 bracket increased from 50.8% to 62.3% - thereby decreasing the overall median price for the region,” Norwell added.
