Five year high for Aotearoa house sales last month

Otautahi - The number of Kiwi homes properties sold last month was the highest number of properties sold in an April month for five years with 7218 properties traded.

For New Zealand excluding Auckland, it was the busiest April in three years with 4627 properties sold. Auckland saw the busiest April month in five years with 2591 property sales.

Other stand out regions included the West Coast 46 properties sold – the strongest sales volumes for an April month in 15 years; Canterbury with 1076 properties sold - the busiest month since April 2007.

Excluding April 2020, Otago had the lowest April sales volumes since April 2008, Gisborne had the quietest April month in seven years and Manawatu/Wanganui had the quietest April in six years, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand says.

The total number of sales decreased compared to the previous month. Lack of supply is still pushing house prices up.

Median prices for residential property across New Zealand increased by 19.1 percent from $680,000 to $810,000 compared to April last year.

Nine out of 16 regions reached record median prices and so did 21 districts – well down on 32 districts last month.

Median house prices for New Zealand excluding Auckland increased by 33.5 percent from $517,000 to $690,000 in April 2020 -  a record high for New Zealand excluding Auckland.

Auckland’s median house price increased by 21.6 percent from $925,000 in April 2020 to $1.125 million - a record for Auckland.