Horowhenua District is hot property
Median house sale prices in the province have hit the half a million dollar mark for the first time ever, on the back of a nationwide property price explosion.
More properties were selling more quickly and for huge prices, with real estate bosses citing a lack of housing stock as a significant factor — the market simply can’t meet the demand.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand chief executive Bindi Norwell said that awareness of the market was leading to higher expectations from anyone wanting to sell a house.
“Vendors are starting to expect more for their properties as they recognise there is strong demand and a shortage of available properties,” she said.
Norwell said the Horowhenua District reached a record median house price in December 2020 of $525,000, a figure that was up 36.4 per cent from the same time last year where the median sale price was $385,000.
“Sales volumes for the district also increased 61.9 per cent year-on-year from 42 properties sold in December 2019 to 68 properties sold in December
2020,” she said.
Homes were not sitting on the shelf for long. The time it took to sell a property in Horowhenua decreased from 31 days in December 2019 to 24 days in December 2020.
Norwell said it showed how quickly purchasers were willing to act to secure the right property.
“However, we encourage all buyers to ensure they conduct their own due diligence before purchasing a property,” she said.
Meanwhile, the amount of property available for sale in New Zealand had fallen to a record low, continuing to put pressure on the housing market, resulting in a new record New Zealand-wide median house price for the fourth month in a row.
The latest data from REINZ median house prices across New Zealand increased by 19.3 per cent from $628,000 in December 2019 to a new record median price of $749,000 in December 2020.
Median house prices for New Zealand excluding Auckland increased by 17.8 per cent from $535,000 in December last year to a new record median price of $630,000.
Additionally, Auckland’s median house price increased by 17.4 per cent from $886,000 at the same time last
year to $1,040,000 a new record high — the fifth consecutive month where Auckland has seen a new record median house price.
Norwell said, for the fourth month in a row, New Zealand has seen house prices reach a new record with
December seeing a new national median house price of $749,000.
In total 11 other regions saw record median prices during December 2020. Regions in addition to Auckland with record median prices were:
Gisborne with a 43.9 per cent increase from $410,000 in December 2019 to $590,000 in December 2020.
West Coast with a 31.9 per cent increase from $216,000 in December 2019 to $285,000 in December 2020.
Manawatu/Wanganui with a 31.3 per cent increase from $402,000 in December 2019 to $528,000 in December 2020.
Hawke’s Bay with a 27.3 per cent increase from $520,000 in December 2019 to $662,000 in December 2020.
Northland with a 25.2 per cent increase from $539,000 in December 2019 to $675,000 December 2020.
Taranaki with a 19.6 per cent increase from $418,000 in December 2019 to $500,000 in December 2020.
Wellington with an 18.6 per cent increase from $685,000 in December 2019 to $812,251 in December 2020.
Waikato with a 17.4 per cent increase from $575,000 in December 2019 to $675,000 December 2020 — the eighth month in a row of record high medians.
Canterbury with a 16.5 per cent increase from $460,000 in December 2019 to $536,000 in December 2020 — the fifth consecutive month of record median prices
Nelson with a 12.7 per cent increase from $605,000 in December 2019 to $682,000 in December 2020.