Almost all regions experience record low sales numbers
The number of properties sold in April plummeted by a whopping 78.5% compared to the same time last year, according to new REINZ data.
The full lockdown restrictions of Alert Level 4 meant property sales were more or less off the table, with regions outside of Auckland experiencing decreases of over 90%. Auckland itself appears to have been the least impacted by the effects of lockdown and recorded a 68.8% drop in sales volumes, with sales occurring in Auckland City, the North Shore and Manukau.
For New Zealand excluding Auckland, the number of properties sold over April fell by 82.4% year on year – a total of 767, compared to 4,357 in April 2019. There were no increases in sales volumes in any region, though the West Coast was the only region not to experience a record low.
Southland was the worst hit only eleven houses sold, a decrease of 92.1% from 140 houses in April 2019. Nelson’s properties sold fell from 83 to seven, a 91.6% drop, and the Manawatu/Wanganui region saw a 87.2% decrease from 384 to 49. Gisborne also saw a considerable drop of 86.6%, selling nine houses this April compared to 67 in April 2019.
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell says the drop is not unexpected given the tough restrictions under Alert Level 4, which meant that only essential businesses could continue to operate – real estate not being one of them.
“Of the 1,305 properties sold across New Zealand, about half were sold in the first 10 days of lockdown (656 properties), followed by just 272 between 11-20 April which included Easter, and then an uplift in the last 10 days of the month with 377 properties sold,” Norwell commented.
“The number of properties sold across the country decreased by 78.5% when compared to the same time last year, which is not entirely surprising given that for the first 27 days of the month the entire country was in complete lockdown.”
REINZ says the sector would now be looking towards new listings during May along with consumer confidence levels, employment, and access to finance, all of which will provide a good indicator as to how quickly the market can recover.
“Talking to our members around the country, there are good levels of activity starting to occur with both first time buyers and investors active in the market which is a positive sign. We expect this to pick up as we move into Level 2,” Norwell said.
“However, we caution over being too optimistic until we get a few more months’ data, as many of the sales in April will have been negotiated during March, so it’s likely to be another month or so until we really see the full impact of the lockdown.”
