March was an unusually quiet month for the Dunedin real estate market with just 125 sales. Based on previous years we would expect around 200 sales in March so this came as some surprise. It is difficult to pin down any single cause for this drop but there was a reduced supply for the month with 60 less properties listed in March than February so this was no doubt an influencing factor. 

Once again we have seen a substantial rise in the median sale price to $650,000 but we always treat this figure with caution when the number of sales is so low. We will continue to watch the trend before we consider this a solid indication of where prices have moved to. Median days on the market is 21 which indicates that the properties that did come to market had no problem selling and demand is still strong.

Listing numbers on realestate.co.nz have remained constant at around 295 although we did see a dip during March when new properties coming to market was not keeping up with sales.

We are yet to see the true effects of the government’s announcements aimed at disincentivising property investment in favour of first home buyers. Anecdotally we are hearing of investors considering a stronger focus on new builds to take advantage of the preferential treatment these will have under the changes but overall we are seeing many go into a holding pattern while they consider their options.

Joe Nidd AREINZ
Owner/Principal

Liz Nidd FREINZ
Team Mentor/Compliance