Dunedin Property Report - February 2023 (Jan 2023 stats)

The median sale price in January was $515,000. This is a stark contrast to the past six months of fairly steady median prices around $600,000. This is likely, in part, an indication of first home buyers being represented strongly in the sales data meaning more sales are happening in lower price brackets. There is, however, no doubt we have seen downward pressure on prices across the board.

There were just 69 sales in January which is down a little from 79 in January 2022.

The median number of days to sell was 60 indicating that much of the property sold in January was carried over from the quiet period at the end of last year.

The number of listings available on Realestate.co.nz is 669 as of writing this report. This increased from 592 at this time last month after a busy month of new listings.

Although the key indicators clearly illustrate the changes in the market, the coming months will be most telling as the market normalises post-break. Open homes have been significantly busier in January than in December as buyers look to take advantage of more choice and lower prices.

Banks are finally showing signs of interest rate relief with multiple banks dropping their two year special rates to around 6.5% in the past month. This reinforces the message from economists that rates may have passed their peak.

Investors are still scarce in the market but some are still looking to grow portfolios. Those who are able to obtain finance or who have private funding are often looking for opportunities to replace older stock with newer stock or, in some cases, are looking at build to rent opportunities given the government incentives encouraging this activity.

Joe Nidd AREINZ
Owner/Principal