August 2018 has been a month of record highs and record lows since realestate.co.nz started collecting data more than 11 years ago, says realestate.co.nz spokesperson Vanessa Taylor.

Real-time statistics from realestate.co.nz show nearly two thirds (11) of the country’s 19 regions hit record high average asking prices in August, while half of the regions (9) registered all-time lows in the number of houses listed for sale.

“Added into the mix is a healthy number of unique browsers in August to realestate.co.nz, which hints at an early spring lift in housing activity,” says Vanessa.

In August, 911,012 unique browsers visited the site, which is a 5.2 per cent increase on July and consistent with summertime browsing levels, she says.

“We’ve had a relatively static housing market since the election period and this lift in interest coincides with a healthy injection of new listings in two of the country’s largest regions.

Of the 8,739 new property listings across the country during August, almost half (4,343) were located in either the Auckland or Canterbury regions.

Record increases in asking prices highs in 11 regions

The increase in property asking prices was led by the Central Otago/Lakes District which tipped over the one-million-dollar milestone, with the average asking price sitting at $1,019,094. *

“This is the first region to ever reach the one-million-dollar asking price milestone in the 11 years of data collection history on realestate.co.nz,” says Vanessa.

“Whether Central Otago-Lakes continues to outstrip Auckland as the most expensive region in terms of asking prices remains to be seen,” says Vanessa.

“It’s a smaller market and if there are a significant number of top-end properties coming onto the market at the same time, it can impact the average asking prices.

“Auckland is larger, with a more diverse range of properties, so it’s not always comparing apples with apples,” she says.

While Central Otago-Lakes led the charge with a significant lift in asking prices, there were 10 other regions which recorded record highs in asking prices last month. These regions registered more modest gains and were equally balanced across the North and South Islands.

North Island:

Northland registered a 1.8 per cent increase in asking price to $635,112, Central North Island up 4.5 per cent to $488,420, Hawke’s Bay up 3.7 per cent to $521,138, Manawatu-Wanganui up 3.7 per cent to $370,597, Wairarapa up 6.6 per cent to $520,127 and Wellington up 1.7 per cent to $639,553.

South Island:

Nelson & Bay’s asking prices increased 4.4 per cent to $650,293, Marlborough was up 4.6 per cent to $520,852, Canterbury up 1.6 per cent to $507,992 and Otago was up 6.6 per cent to $401,499.

All- time lows in stock levels in nine regions

A fall in housing stock levels nationally has led to a tightening of options. This particularly impacts home buyers in nine regions, all of which registered all-time lows in the number of homes available for sale since 2007 when realestate.co.nz started collecting data.

Nationally, total stock levels in August stood at 21,207 which is down 1.6 per cent on August 2017.

“While this seems on the face of it a modest decline, for the regions with all-time stock lows there’s not a lot of options and homes are being snapped up,” says Vanessa.

North Island:

Coromandel registered a 9.2 per cent decrease to 433 listings, Central North Island down 18.6 per cent to 336 listings, Taranaki fell by 8.1 per cent to 533 listings, Manawatu-Wanganui saw a 28.2 per cent decrease to 649 total listings and the Wairapara dropped 7.6 per cent to 204 listings.

South Island:

Marlborough registered a drop of 4.0 per cent to 245 listings, West Coast decreased to 16.1 per cent to 482 listings, Otago fell by 17.9 per cent to 430 listings and finally the Southland region fell by 23.6 per cent with 403 listings.

Auckland and Canterbury regions spring into life with new listings

“Spring appears to have come early for the Auckland and Canterbury regions,” says Vanessa Taylor.

“Canterbury has been an active market for some months, but it seems that the Auckland region has now sprung back to life with a surge of new listings,” says Vanessa.

Of the 8,739 new property listings across the country during August, almost half (4,343) were located in either the Auckland or Canterbury regions.

The Auckland region registered a 6.0 per cent increase in new listings compared with August 2017.

“The 3,086 new listings in August are giving Auckland buyers more options,” says Vanessa.

Buyers in the Canterbury region have also got more options, with 1,257 new listings in August, representing a 7.2 per cent increase on the same month last year.

“What we’re seeing is the surge in these regions compensating for the record lows in other regions,” says Vanessa.

Nationally, the number of new listings is static (an increase of 0.1 per cent compared to August 2017).

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