Data released today by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows there were 300 more lifestyle property sales (+11.9%) for the three months ended September 2020 than for the three months ended August 2020. Overall, there were 2,812 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended September 2020, compared to 1,650 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended September 2019 (+70.4%), and 2,512 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended August 2020.

7,743 lifestyle properties were sold in the year to September 2020, 830 (12.0%) more than were sold in the year to September 2019. The value of lifestyle properties sold was $6.74 billion for the year to September 2020.

The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to September 2020 was $760,000 and was $60,000 higher compared to the three months ended September 2019 (+8.6%).

Brian Peacocke, Rural Spokesman, at REINZ says: “Sales results for lifestyle properties during the 3 month period ending September 2020 continue to reflect the extraordinary phenomenon being experienced in the property sector.

“Without any apparent explanation, volumes in total across the country continue to increase to a record level for the 3 month period, albeit for the specific month of September 2020, some volatility was evident with 5 regions experiencing a decrease and 8 regions enjoying an increase; some of those increases were quite spectacular.

“Given the current turnover of property, the question of availability of stock is likely to be an influencing factor as we move forward from here,” he concludes.

Points of Interest around New Zealand include:

• Northland/Auckland - an easing in volumes for the former where sales were well spread and the median price remained solid, whereas the Auckland region experienced a 20% lift in volumes with all districts sharing the honours; again, the median price remained steady
• Central Regions - the Waikato region enjoyed a 21.6% increase in volumes against the previous month with both the Waikato and Waipa districts achieving excellent results, Cambridge/Hamilton localities in particular being the most attractive to incoming purchasers; Bay of Plenty remained constant, Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay registered good increases in volumes but Taranaki let the team down with a decrease in sales; the median price again was in keeping with the above results
• Lower North Island - Manawatu/Wanganui experienced a slight increase with volumes well spread across the region; the median price followed suit; Wairarapa and Wellington enjoyed a 27% lift in volumes with Masterton and South Wairarapa being the main points of focus but surprisingly, the median price took a 9.3% hit. The level for this month however was still ahead of that recorded for the same period in the last 2 years
• Upper South Island - the decrease in sales volumes for the Nelson/Marborough districts appeared to have been felt most in the latter area with the easing in the median price being almost in response to that decrease
• Central South Island - West Coast fared well in the numbers game with a 41% increase in sales from last month, unfortunately offset to a degree by a 10% decrease in the median price; against the national trend, Canterbury experienced a dramatic 30% decrease in volumes which was most surprising, but did manage to hold close to par on the median price
• Lower South Island - similarly afflicted like its northern neighbour, but with more severe symptoms, Otago lost a severe 49% in sales numbers from last month, but did manage a minor increase in the median price; by comparison, the robust neighbour to the south gained a healthy 55% gain in volumes from the previous month, albeit not quite back to the levels of June and July; however Southland did in fact drop 13% in the median price compared to last month.

All 14 regions recorded an increase in sales compared to September 2019 with Auckland (+280 sales) and Waikato (+204 sales) observing the biggest increases. Gisborne recorded the smallest increase in sales (+8 sales) in the three months to September 2020 compared to the three months to September 2019. Compared to the three months to August 2020, all regions except Nelson and Southland recorded an increase in sales.

Nine regions saw the median price of lifestyle blocks increase between the three months ending September 2019 and the three months ending September 2020. The most notable examples were in Gisborne (+39%), Northland (+18%) and Nelson (+14%) and the most notable exceptions were Hawke’s Bay (-18%) and Otago (-16%).

The median number of days to sell for lifestyle properties was three days longer in the three months to September 2020 than in the three months to September 2019, sitting at 76 days. Compared to the three months ended August 2020 the median number of days to sell was 13 days shorter. Manawatu/Wanganui recorded the shortest number of days to sell in September 2020 at 41 days, followed by Gisborne (44 days) and Hawke’s Bay (59 days). West Coast recorded the longest number of days to sell at 187 days, followed by Otago at 105 days and Northland at 103 days.

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