Dunedin Property Report - April 2022 (March 2022 stats)

March’s statistics verified what many in the industry have anecdotally been experiencing, a pull-back in median sale price and relatively low sales volume. The median dropped from an all time high last month of $685,000 to $645,000. This is still above March 2021 but certainly reinforces that the market is seeing a change from the rapid growth of recent years.

Interestingly, the median number of days on the market reduced from 42 to 34 but we believe that the high number in February reflected the number of properties that sold after sitting for additional time over the holiday period. Four to five weeks is now a reasonable estimation of time that a well priced, well marketed property will be on the market before selling, albeit with exceptions on either side of that.

The number of properties available for sale has plateaued for now in the early 600’s and with 191 sales in the past month more or less matching the number of new properties listed, we expect the number of listings available to stay fairly constant as we head into the cooler months.

There were only three section sales across the city but we are aware of a number of developments with sales due to confirm once titles are issued which will bring a flush of new settlements in the coming months. There is still strong interest in land but building supply issues are creating bottlenecks for people looking to begin construction soon.

The government’s announced adjustment of the strict new lending rules has begun to make a difference with first and second home buyers. After seeing a major contraction in this part of the market in response to the initial implementation of the rules, it is good to see first home buyers active again and loan approvals coming through where they were being refused in recent months.

Joe Nidd AREINZ
Owner/Principal