New Zealand house prices hit new record high as house sales up 29.6 pct

Median house prices across New Zealand increased by 18.5 percent year on year in November to a record high of 749,000 New Zealand dollars (532,491 U.S. dollars), as property sales in November were up 29.6 percent on the same time last year and inventory levels were at lowest point ever, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) said on Friday.

REINZ's figures show 9,885 properties were sold in November across the country, the highest number of properties sold in a month since March 2007.

For New Zealand excluding Auckland, the biggest city of the country, the number of properties sold increased by 18.3 percent when compared to the same time last year (from 5,205 to 6,157) - the highest number of properties sold since March 2016 (56 months) and the highest November sales volumes since November 2006 (14 years).

In Auckland, the number of properties sold in November increased by 53.9 percent year-on-year (from 2,422 to 3,728) - the highest since March 2007 (164 months) and the highest November sales volume since records began.

Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at REINZ said: "November was an incredible month in terms of the number of properties sold, with just shy of 10,000 properties sold over 30 days (9,885). The last time we saw a similar level of sales volumes was back in March 2007 - 164 months ago - before the national recession and global financial crisis started impacting New Zealand's property market.

As the housing demand kept high, the supply touched low. In some regions, inventory levels were at lowest point ever. The total number of properties available for sale nationally decreased by 16.9 percent in November to 18,319 down from 22,049 in November 2019 - a decrease of 3,730 properties compared to 12 months ago. Additionally, eight regions had their lowest levels of inventory ever. (1 New Zealand dollar equals 0.70 U.S. dollar)