June 2024 Lifestyle Data: Decrease In Lifestyle Property Sales Expected

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) today released its latest data on the lifestyle property market, revealing notable trends and fluctuations in sales and prices across regions.

There were 1,296 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended June 2024, marking a decrease of 169 sales (-11.5%) compared to the three months ended May 2024. This figure also represents a slight decline of 1.6% from last year, when 1,317 sales were recorded. In contrast, 1,465 sales were reported for the three months ended May 2024.

Shane O’Brien, Rural Spokesman at REINZ, commented on the regional dynamics. "The slight decrease in sales activity compared to 2023 wasn’t unexpected as many buyers continue to balance higher interest rates and challenging economic conditions when making buying decisions.”

In the year to June 2024, 5,512 lifestyle properties were sold, a decrease of 217 sales (-3.8%) compared to the previous year. The total value of lifestyle properties sold during this period amounted to $6.12 billion.

The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to June 2024 was $975,000, which is $20,500 lower than the median price recorded in the same period of the previous year (-2.1%). The median price for Bare Land Lifestyle properties saw an increase to $406,674, up $23,327 (+5.4%) compared to June 2023, while Farmlet Lifestyle properties saw a slight decrease to $1,090,000, down $10,000 (-0.9%) from the previous year.

“The stronger sales of bareland blocks perhaps point to a decrease in the availability of blocks, which is the result of the government's decision to limit the subdivision of productive land through district and regional councils,” added O’Brien

Regional sales performance varied, with 6 regions experiencing increases in sales compared to June 2023, led by Wellington (+25 sales) and Canterbury (+18 sales). Conversely, Waikato (-57 sales) and Gisborne/Hawkes Bay (-14 sales) recorded the largest decreases in sales for the three months to June 2024 compared to the same period last year. Compared to May 2024, no regions recorded an increase in sales.

5 regions nationwide saw an increase in the median price of lifestyle properties between June 2023 and June 2024. Notable increases were observed in Otago (+11.8%) and Bay of Plenty (+9.1%), while Gisborne/Hawkes Bay (-19.6%) and Canterbury (-14.4%) reported the largest decreases.

The median number of days to sell a lifestyle property was 77 days from the three months to June 2024, an increase of 8 days compared to last year. Taranaki reported the shortest number of days to sell at 67 days, while West Coast recorded the longest at 101 days.

O’Brien finished by saying it is encouraging to note that traditionally strong markets of Waikato, Auckland, and Canterbury have remained active.

“With good sales activity recorded in these areas as agents report good numbers attending open homes and steady inquiries on several listings, said O’Brien.

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 2024 refer to the period from 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024.

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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