Southland property market reaches all-time high
Wednesday, 8 January 2020
The Southland property market has hit an all time high with an average asking price of $374,636 in December.
RealEstate.co.nz sales and marketing head Vanessa Taylor said it's the highest price the site has seen since it started keeping record 13 years ago.
Property prices in Southland have experienced the second-highest growth in New Zealand during the last year.
Average asking prices for properties in in the region grew 21 per cent during 2019 from $309,053 to $374,636.
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That's only marginally lower than the 25 per cent growth seen in Manawatu/Wanganui.
National asking prices also hit a high this year, with the highest average price in the Bay of Plenty reaching $722,106.
Invercargill's property market grew by 16 per cent during 2019, according to data collected by CoreLogic.
The most expensive Southland house currently advertised on RealEstate.co.nz is a three-bedroom Waikiwi home listed by Southland Real Estate for $1.5 million in September.
One of the reasons Southlanders were able to ask more for their homes now was because there are 40 per cent fewer homes for sale than the previous year.
RealEstate.co.nz recorded an 11 per cent drop in listings with only 138 Southland homes advertised on the site in December 2019.
'Low stock, teamed with high asking prices sees us close out the decade as a strong sellers' market,' Taylor said.
Another factor for the strong demand is New Zealand's growing population, she said.
The country was expected to grow by 60,000 people per year over a 10-year span, putting further pressure on the property market.
'In 2020, the total population of New Zealand is estimated be nearing or exceeding 5,000,000, so we might see this stock shortage continue for some time,' Taylor said.
Quotable Value general manager David Nagel said financial institutions had reported a renewed interest from existing property owners to restructure their finances so they could buy an additional property.
'This means we have multiple buyers looking to purchase a limited number of properties, particularly at the less expensive end of the market,' he said.
Nagel predicts 'modest but steady value growth' throughout New Zealand in 2020 but added that the upcoming election would be likely to bring uncertainty to the property market.