New Zealand Property Market Report

New Zealand's median house price rose to an all-time high of $725,000 in October, up 19.8% year over year. House prices and the property market continue to defy the expectations set when the country went into lockdown. In total 10 regions saw record median prices during October. We will look at some of the contributing factors mentioned by Bindi Norwell, REINZ CEO. How did the Rotorua property market compare?

Rotorua's property market continued to reach new highs, reaching a record median house price of $580,000. This represents very high growth of 19.6%, up from $485,000 a year ago. Property sales volume decreased by 23.1% from September, as the city sees a lack of supply compared to Demand. The Bay of Plenty median house price increased by more than $100,000 annually, now sitting at $720,500. Tauranga's average pushed $30,000 higher, to set a new record of $810,000, the regions most expensive city.

What is noticeable is the reduction of time properties are sitting on the market and the lack of supply briefly mentioned. The current Days to Sell of 34 days is less than the 10-year average for October, which is 43 days. There were 7 weeks of inventory in October 2020, which is eight weeks less than the same time last year.

Bindi Norwell, REINZ CEO noted, "in addition to Auckland, 9 other regions and 28 districts around the country saw house prices reach new record medians in October showing how low interest and mortgage rates, the diversion of spend on overseas travel to property, expats returning home, the removal of LVRs and a fiercely competitive market due to the lack of listings has been contributing to price rises over the past few months."

"Given the price rises we've seen over the past few months, we wouldn't be surprised if the Reserve Bank goes ahead with its proposal to reinstate LVRs before the 12-month period is up – particularly for investors," points out Norwell.

Neville Falconer, REINZ Regional Director, summarised the movements for Bay of Plenty as follows:
"Demand continues to outweigh supply with new listings were down -7.3% year-on-year which has continued to put strain on stock levels. Additionally, investor activity remains strong in the region. The Bay of Plenty region is now at its lowest level of inventory since records began with 7 weeks available, down from 15 weeks at the same time last year. These levels of activity are expected to continue over the coming months."

We hope you enjoyed this New Zealand property market update. If you are looking for properties for sale in Rotorua, remember to check out our current listings. Alternatively, if you are looking for the top Real Estate agent in Rotorua, then get in touch with the team!

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