But signs of recovery ahead
Lifestyle properties sold for the three months ended August numbered 1,273, which was -16% fewer than the 1,516 lifestyle properties sold for the same period last year, and less -8.1% than the 1,385 sales recorded for the three months ended July 2023, fresh REINZ figures showed.
A total 5,533 lifestyle properties were sold in the year to August, fewer by -27.6% than were sold in the year to August 2022. Lifestyle property sales in the August 2023 year amounted to a total $6.29 billion.
All lifestyle properties sold in the three months to August had a median price of $910,000-$100,000, or -9.9%, lower than that of the three months ended August 2022. Over the same period, the median price for Bareland Lifestyle properties sold was $444,500 and $1,022,609 for Farmlet Lifestyle properties. These figures were lower by -7.4% and -14.8%, respectively, compared to the three months ended August 2022.
Shane O’Brien (pictured above), rural spokesman at REINZ, said the lifestyle sales market recorded lower sales volume than in previous years but with median sales price across most regions holding in line with 2022 – a trend following that of the residential market.
“Areas to record higher sales activity on previous years are Taranaki and the South Island’s West Coast, with Taranaki recording 66 lifestyle property sales,” O’Brien said.
He said many salespeople are now starting to ready listings for the spring market, although some vendors are opting to hold off promoting their properties until after the Oct. 14 general election, to give themselves and buyers greater certainty. Another cause for delay in preparing properties for the traditional spring market was the wet weather across most regions.
“Building costs continue to impact the number of Bareland lifestyle property sales, but this market is still buoyant, with both the Auckland and Waikato regions being active,” O’Brien said.
Three regions registered sales increases as compared to August last year, with Bay of Plenty and West Coast the biggest winners, with gains of 17 and 10 sales, respectively. In contrast, the biggest decreases in sales were recorded in Northland and Auckland, where sales fell by 69 and 41, respectively.
Compared to the three months to July, two regions posted sales increases, the REINZ data showed.
In the three months to August, the median days to sell lifestyle properties was 74 days – 24 days longer than in the three months to August last year. West Coast had the shortest number of days to sell at 57 days while Manawatu-Whanganui recorded the longest, at 122 days.
Read REINZ’s August lifestyle data report here.
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