Welcome to Key Real Estate's monthly Property Report. We'll look at properties for sale in Rotorua, the Bay of Plenty and across the country.
The upward trend of the New Zealand property market continued in April 2021 when looking at annual median prices. However, the country was in an Alert Level 4 lockdown last year, significantly reducing the number of properties sold.
New Zealand's median house price rose to $810,000, up from $680,000 or 19.1% compared to a year ago. Bay of Plenty's median price now sits at $800,000, up 27.0% annually. The Rotorua District was a key contributor climbing to a median house price of $630,000 - up an impressive 24.8% compared to April 2020.
Interestingly, the national median house price dropped 1.8% compared to March. A welcome sign for first home buyers and those in the market to buy property. Whether the reintroduction of more conservative LVR's will see prices stabilise, contract or continue to rise remains to be seen.
Wendy Alexander, Acting Chief Executive at REINZ, says: "As we predicted last month, the ongoing lack of supply continues to put upwards pressure on house prices. However, we have seen some regions start to show signs of prices easing and the rate of growth slowing down a little which will be welcome news to those looking to get on the property market. Additionally, it might be the first signs that the reintroduction of the LVRs is starting to have the desired effect."
Neville Falconer, REINZ Regional Director, made similar comments. "Listings are still tight for the region, down -16.1% from March, leaving some vendors with FONFA – the Fear Of Not Finding Anything, meaning they are reluctant to sell until they find somewhere to move. Investor activity has not slowed too much in April, with professional investors still eager to secure good properties; however, mum and dad investors are rethinking their purchases and have eased off slightly. Access to finance continues to be an issue, particularly for first home buyers as the processing of requests is slow and the market is still moving at a quick pace with days to sell at just 30 days."
Remember to have a look at our current Rotorua properties for sale.