Winter Chills Check Momentum

Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows there were 258 fewer lifestyle property sales (-10.3%) for the three months ended June 2021 than for the three months ended May 2021. Overall, there were 2,241 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended June 2021, compared to 1,223 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended June 2020 (+83.2%), and 2,499 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended May 2021.

10,440 lifestyle properties were sold in the year to June 2021, 3,872 (+59.0%) more than were sold in the year to June 2020. The value of lifestyle properties sold was $10.60 billion for the year to June 2021.

The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to June 2021 was $920,000 and was $200,000 higher compared to the three months ended June 2020 (+27.8%). The median price for Bare land Lifestyle properties sold in the three months to June 2021 was $465,000 and was $115,000 higher compared to the three months ended June 2020 (+32.9%). The median price for Farmlet Lifestyle properties sold in the three months to June 2021 was $1,090,000 and was $260,000 higher compared to the three months ended June 2020 (+31.3%).

Brian Peacocke, Rural Spokesman, at REINZ says: “Sales data for the 3-month period ending June 2021 continue to reflect a solid market with a customary easing of sales volumes during the first month of winter.

“Of significance, however, is that in spite of the easing trend from previous months, total sales were 83% ahead of the same period in 2020 which is still a dramatic lift over a 12-month period.

“Of equal significance is the median price, which at $920,000 for the current period, is 28% higher than the figure of $720,000 applying to the June quarter 12 months ago.

“Such results would appear to confirm that, like the housing market, demand exceeds supply,” he concludes.

Points of Interest around New Zealand include:

Upper North Island
Looking at the market for the month of June 2021 specifically compared to May 2021, sales volumes dropped 32% in Northland but gained half that amount (16%) in Auckland. Median prices gained incrementally in both regions.

Waikato/King Country/Taupo and Bay of Plenty/Rotorua sales volumes dropped 25% and 22% respectively with the popular areas of Central Waikato and Western Bay of Plenty clearly dominating the outlying districts. Median prices remained consistent with the previous quarter in both regions.

Central North Island
Gisborne sales figures wilted 33% from May as did the price; Hawke’s Bay fared better with a gentle easing in volumes and a similar 5% easing in price; Taranaki dropped 35% in volume but experienced a reasonable 9% lift in the median price.

Lower North Island
Again comparing June 2021 results with May 2021 figures, Manawatu/Wanganui/Tararua volumes slipped slightly whereas Wairarapa/Horowhenua/Wellington picked up the benefit with an 11% gain in volumes.

In terms of medium price, the loss felt by the latter region equated to a 10% gain for their northern neighbors.

Upper South Island
Nelson/Tasman/Marlborough, being the sunshine region of New Zealand, held on well with similar results in sales numbers and prices compared to the previous month; Canterbury lost their previous consistency and dropped the ball by a little over 15% in numbers but gained a reasonable 9.5% in medium price; West Coast held well in sales numbers by matching May figures in June, but were washed out by nearly 30% in prices over that period.

Lower South Island
Otago lost ground in both sales numbers and price during June compared to May, but still achieved strong results and consistently high prices in the Queenstown/Lakes District; Southland by comparison galloped out of the gates by achieving a dramatic 116% lift in sales volumes but stumbled at the last fence by dropping just under 10% in their median price.

All 13 regions recorded an increase in sales compared to June 2020, with Waikato (+179 sales) and Auckland (+152 sales) observing the biggest increases. West Coast (+25 sales) and Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman (+28 sales) recorded the smallest increases in sales in the three months to June 2021 compared to the three months to June 2020. Compared to the three months to May 2021, 3 regions recorded an increase in sales.

11 regions saw the median price of lifestyle blocks increase between the three months ending June 2020 and the three months ending June 2021. The most notable examples were in Otago (+77%) and Nelson/Marlborough (+49%) with the biggest decreases being in West Coast (-27%) and Southland (-1%).

The median number of days to sell for lifestyle properties was 45 days less in the three months to June 2021 than in the three months to June 2020, sitting at 43 days. Wellington (32) and Manawatu-Wanganui (34) recorded the shortest number of days to sell in June 2021. Otago (67) and Nelson/Marlborough/Tasman (55) recorded the longest number of days to sell.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand

For more real estate information and market trends data, visit www.reinz.co.nz. For New Zealand's most comprehensive range of listings for residential, lifestyle, rural, commercial, investment and rental properties, visit www.realestate.co.nz - REINZ's official property directory website.

Editors Note:

The information provided by REINZ in relation to the lifestyle real estate market covers the most recently completed three-month period; thus, references to June 2021 refer to the period from 1 April 2021 to 30 June 2021.

From April 2021 there has been a change in the methodology for calculating rural statistics. To date, the rural statistics have referred to a Return Period which is the month in which a sale record was submitted to REINZ. Going forward, the rural statistics will refer to an Unconditional Month i.e., the month in which the sale went unconditional. This change in methodology ensures that sales that took place in April, for instance, are recorded against April even if they were submitted to REINZ late. The change also brings Rural statistics calculation into line with the Residential statistics calculation, where the Unconditional Month approach has been used successfully to calculate Residential Statistics for several years now. The Unconditional Month methodology also ensures that the most up-to-date state of the REINZ database is reported at the time the data is released with revision of prior months statistics often occurring to reflect the submission of late data or sale amendments that took place after the prior statistics release.

In addition to the calculation period change there are two additional changes to the data worth noting:

1. 12 Districts have been replaced by 13 Regions. These are consistent with the parts of the residential press release and it has been done to be consistent with regional definitions outside REINZ e.g., Statistics NZ

2. Dairy Support is a new farm category and we now have the ability to separate Lifestyle Blocks into Bareland and Farmlets.

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