Dunedin Property Report - October 2023 (Sept 2023 stats)

There has been a marked increase in buyer commitment in September with the median days on market dropping from 44 down to 36. This is a substantial improvement from 63 days in March.

The experience at the frontline reinforces this, with agents reporting higher open home numbers and more cases of multiple offers at deadline. There are also more buyers with unconditional offers returning to the market, indicating that the increased competition is requiring buyers to strengthen their position in order to be successful.

There were 132 sales for the month, down slightly from 142 in September 2022. This is partly a side-effect of the very low stock numbers in the early part of the month. We expect a higher number of sales in October after a significant injection of new stock came to the market at the end of September, many of which will sell in October.

First home buyers remain the most active buyer sector but there has been a notable increase in activity further up the market, although these buyers are often not showing the same level of commitment as the entry level buyers. There were 11 sales over $1m, with close to 30% of sales at or above $750,000. This is up from around 20% in August, further reinforcing the increasing activity in the upper end of the market.

Section sales have begun to pick up with six in September and a noticeable increase in buyer enquiry.

All eyes are now on the election result with property at the front of the policy debate for many.

Joe Nidd AREINZ
Owner/Principal