Number of million-dollar plus properties sold decreases

23 February 2018
For immediate release

Number of million-dollar plus properties sold decreases 13.8% due to ‘Auckland impact’

The number of properties sold around the country for more than a million dollars during 2017 decreased by 13.8% when compared to 2016 (10,027 down from 11,639).

However, this figure is still up significantly on 2015, when 9,574 million-dollar plus properties were sold around the country according to the Real Estate Institute of New

Zealand (REINZ) Million Dollar Price Report.

In the Auckland market, the number of million-dollar properties sold during 2017 fell by 17.8% when compared to the previous year (7,897 down from 9,605).

Looking at the New Zealand excluding Auckland picture, the number of million-dollar plus properties increased year-on-year by 4.7%.

Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ says: “Volumes of million-dollar plus sales were down year-on-year by 13.8% across the country. This figure has been pulled down by the impact of what’s happened in Auckland. If you remove Auckland from the picture, then the number of million-dollar plus properties actually increased.

“However, if you look at the number of million-dollar plus sales as a percentage of total sales, then we’ve actually seen an increase. In 2016, 12.9% of properties sold had a price tag in excess of a million dollars, whereas in 2017 13.3% of all properties sold were above a million dollars. These figures very much represent the residential sales picture during 2017 where the volume of sales has been down, but the value (price) of properties has increased,” continues Norwell.

Regional Breakdown

The region with the largest year-on-year increase was Southland which saw an increase of 200% - from only one property sold in excess of a million-dollars in 2016 to three properties sold in excess of a million-dollars in 2017. However, as the sample size is so small the numbers are inflated.

Taranaki outshone all the regions with a 100% increase in million-dollar plus properties (from 18 to 36 properties) when compared to 2016.

Other regions with strong increases in the number of million-dollar plus sales year-on-year were:

Hawke’s Bay +58.8%: up from 34 to 54 properties
Tasman +52.4%: up from 21 to 32 properties
Gisborne +33.3%: up from 3 to 4
Waikato +19.7%: up from 223 to 267.
Outside of Auckland, regions with the largest decrease of million-dollar plus sales year-on-year were:

Manawatu/Wanganui -36.8%: down to 12 from 19
Marlborough -26.7%: down to 11 from 15
Northland -23.3%: down to 69 from 90.
“A number of regions experienced really strong sales in the million-dollar plus category last year, with many producing a record number of sales for their area – despite the fact that 2017 was an election year. Otago also had a record number of $3 million plus sales last year with 24 sales in this price bracket, compared to 17 in the same bracket in 2016,” points out Norwell.

“Across the country, 51 properties were sold in the $5 million plus category – 44 in Auckland (compared to 103 in 2016), 1 in Canterbury (compared to 0 in 2016) and 6 in Otago (compared to 1 in 2016),” concludes Norwell.

ends

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