New data shows a sharp drop in sales across New Zealand’s biggest cities
The number of $1+ million properties sold across New Zealand has dropped by 11.2% compared to the first half of 2018, according to new data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
The first half of 2019 sold 628 fewer houses valued at over $1 million compared to the same time last year. Auckland fronted the trend, experiencing the greatest decline with 722 fewer high-price homes being sold – however the picture was slightly different for New Zealand excluding Auckland, with the Million Dollar Price Report recording a 6.7% increase in million dollar plus properties sold.
Gisborne saw the sharpest increase (+116.7%) followed by Manawatu/Wanganui (+114.3%), Hawke’s Bay (47.4%) and Tasman (+16.7%). According to REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell, Auckland’s poor performance in this market is not typical for the city, but is less surprising given the increased focus on affordable housing.
“We typically expect to see Auckland performing relatively well in our Million Dollar Price Report, so it’s interesting to see a -17.3% drop in sales of million dollar plus homes so far this year,” Norwell commented.
“However, when you look at the bigger picture, it aligns with the shift we’ve been seeing over the past few months as Aucklanders continue to search for more affordable properties and lifestyles in various regions and median prices in the region have stabilised.”
“It’s always promising to see an increase in sales across other parts of the country where real estate continues to go from strength-to-strength,” she added.
“With some renewed confidence entering the market including in Auckland in the last few months, it will be interesting to see what happens in the second half of the year.”
Other regions experiencing significant decline included Canterbury (-71.4%), Otago (-41.7%) and Wellington (-40%). A total of 4,963 houses in the $1+ million category were sold in the first half of 2019.
