May showed some signs of recovery, but COVID tail still impacting property market, says REINZ

The number of properties sold in May across New Zealand decreased by 46.6% from the same time last year – from 7,477 to 3,990 – as Alert Level 3 restrictions on the real estate market still made it difficult for property sales to occur, according to the latest data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

For New Zealand excluding Auckland, the number of properties sold decreased by -47.4% when compared to the same time last year (from 5,464 to 2,873). In Auckland, the number of properties sold in May decreased by -44.5% year-on-year (from 2,013 to 1,117).

Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ says, “This is not surprising given we had the Alert Level 3 restrictions for the first 12 days of May. We’re still seeing a shortage of new listings come to the market which continues to impact sales volumes.”

Median prices mixed across country; still 3 regions with record median prices

Median house prices across New Zealand increased by 6.9% in May to $620,000, up from $580,000 in May 2019. Median house prices for New Zealand excluding Auckland increased by 9.4% to a median price of $535,000, up from $489,000 in May last year. In Auckland, median house prices increased by 7.1% to $910,000 up from $850,000 at the same time last year – the third highest price on record.

“Median house prices in May were slightly more reflective of what we would expect to see as a result of a global pandemic, in that there was some volatility in prices with five regions seeing prices fall from April to May,” continues Norwell.

REINZ House Price Index (HPI)

The REINZ House Price Index for New Zealand, which measures the changing value of property in the market, increased 7.9% year-on-year to 2,962. The HPI for New Zealand excluding Auckland increased 8.8% from May 2019 to 2,956 and Auckland’s HPI increased by 6.8% year-on-year to 2,970.

(All the above content is courtesy REINZ)