Our fastest selling suburbs

Where prices are low, demand comes from first-time buyers

New Zealand’s fastestselling suburb is also one of its cheapest. Sales figures from property analysts CoreLogic show that homes in Kingswell, Invercargill, spent the fewest days on market.

The median selling period in the South Island suburb was a super-fast seven days, CoreLogic found — well below the median of 40 days.

House prices in Kingswell are low — its median value is $230,000 — fuelling demand from first-home buyers. However, the fast sale rate is also likely to be putting pressure on prices. House values are up 18 per cent in the past 12 months, according to separate figures from OneRoof.

CoreLogic looked at 687 suburbs across New Zealand that had at least 500 properties and 20 sales or more in the past year. It identified 220 suburbs where properties spent three weeks or less on the market before selling, and 56 where the median days to sell was 14 days or less.

It also identified 45 suburbs where properties spent more than 50 days on market before selling, and seven where the median days to sell was 100 or more.

Of the 12 suburbs where properties were snapped up in 10 days or fewer, most had

median values of less than $400,000. Just one, Kelvin Grove in Palmerston North, had a median value above $500,000.

Of the 12 fastest-selling suburbs, Woodville, in Tararua, and Strathern, in Invercargill, had relatively high turnover — 8.2 and 8.4 per cent of existing stock of houses. OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said: “This means demand isn’t being fuelled by scarcity of stock.

“Buyers are genuinely hot for houses in both suburbs, putting homeowners there in a good selling position.”

The fastest selling suburb in Auckland was Laingholm in Waitakere, where the median days to sell was 14.

The demand for homes there, though, hasn’t boosted prices: the suburb’s median value fell 4 per cent in the past 12 months, according OneRoof figures.

The Auckland suburb where properties spent the most days on market was Clarks Beach, in Franklin. Thirty-eight homes sold in the waterfront suburb in the past 12 months but they spent an average 123 days on the market before snagging a buyer. Only Buller District, in Westport, had a higher median days to sell — at 168 days.

CoreLogic senior economist Kelvin Davidson said measuring the turnover rate in addition to days on market gave a fuller picture of buyer demand.

Kumeu and Hobsonville, in Auckland’s west, had the country’s highest turnover rates — 14.7 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively. Davidson said the suburbs were big development areas, “so you’d expect high sales levels as the new-builds are sold”. The fact both had high median days on market meant buying activity was steady rather than frantic.

Vaughan added: “High turnover hasn’t lifted prices in Kumeu, with the suburb suffering the country’s biggest 12-month drop in property values — down 24 per cent to $1.14 million, according to the latest OneRoof Property Report figures.”

Davidson said the rest of the fast movers — those with turnover rates of 8 per cent or above — were no surprise. “There is plenty of representation in the rankings for suburbs in Invercargill, Hastings, Tararua and Whanganui — all of which have seen strong price growth lately.”

Auckland suburbs where listings are generally high and buyers cautious had lower turnover rates, Davidson said.

He added: “One aspect that might look surprising at first glance is that Wellington features heavily at the bottom of the list.

“Demand is high in these areas (Wellington City, Porirua), but sales are being held down by a simple lack of listings.

“In that environment, it’s pretty easy to see why prices are rising.”