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. Check out the house price highlights below!
New Zealand's property prices continued on their upward trajectory. National prices for residential property increased by 25.5%, from $677,400 in August 2020 to a record $850,000 in August 2021. Bay of Plenty's median house price was $840,000, continuing to correlate with nationwide prices and an annual gain of 26.3%. In August, the Rotorua District's median house price was $620,000, a 21.6% increase compared to last year.
Month on month prices showed an increase in growth compared to our reporting of relatively flat monthly growth during the winter months, up 3.0% across the country during August. Bay of Plenty's median house price was up $10,000 (or 1.2%) compared to July. The Rotorua District fell $20,000 or 3.1%. The region was supported by a record median house price for Tauranga of $970,000.
Last month we noted inventory reaching the lowest levels New Zealand has ever seen. This was surpassed in August, with a record low of 12,249 properties available for sale. This was 31.9% (or 5,725) less than 12 months ago, putting continued pressure on the country's house prices.
Jen Baird, REINZ CEO, noted: "House prices have once again risen across the country, with every region seeing a year-on-year increase from August 2020. This latest lockdown has not dampened demand for, or confidence in, the housing market as we saw in early 2020. We have heard from across the industry that prices achieved on sales completed in the early part of this lockdown continue to illustrate an ongoing excess of demand over supply; prices are still rising."
"The strength of the market sees the REINZ House Price Index reach a new high nationally. Nine of the 12 regions across New Zealand reached a record level in August, showing that the underlying value of property is holding strong."
Neville Falconer, REINZ Regional Director, went further to comment on the Bay of Plenty: "Bay of Plenty reached a record high of 4,152 in the REINZ House Price Index, a 37.5% increase year-on-year. The Bay of Plenty experienced the lowest number of properties sold for an August month since 2011. First home buyers are having difficulty finding properties within their price range, with 63.4% of properties being sold over the $750,000 price point. Investor numbers declined which is likely due to the legislation changes earlier in the year, including loan-to-value ratios and new bright-line test rules introduced earlier this year, and likely rises in the OCR."
We hope you enjoyed this month's Property Report. With so much movement in house prices, contact Key Real Estate, your Rotorua property specialists, to see how much your property has increased in value!