15 of 16 regions saw triple-figure percentage increases in their month-on-month sales activity
The property market is now recovering from the impacts of COVID-19, with the latest report from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) revealing a substantial uplift from sales activity from April to May.
REINZ's latest data showed that the number of properties sold increased from 1,371 during the alert level 4 lockdown in April to 3,990 in May – up by 191.0%.
Bindi Norwell, the chief executive of REINZ, said 15 of 16 regions across the country saw triple-figure percentage increases in their month-on-month sales activity.
“The only exception was Auckland, but the city did still see a 98.8% increase when compared to April,” Norwell said.
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However, the number of properties sold across New Zealand, excluding Auckland, decreased by -47.4% in May 2020 compared to the same month last year. Meanwhile, the number of properties sold in Auckland decreased by 44.5% year-on-year from 2,013 to 1,117.
Norwell said the results were not surprising as the country had alert level 3 restrictions for the first 12 days of May.
“These restrictions meant only two property viewings, per property, per day were allowed – making it difficult to get interested parties through a property in a timely and efficient manner,” Norwell said.
“With the government initially wanting to restrict private viewings in level 3, this would have had an even greater financial impact on people wanting to buy and sell property. So, we are pleased that some real estate activity was able to go ahead, thereby starting to get the market returning to a sense of normality more quickly.”
“We're still seeing a shortage of new listings come to the market which continues to impact sales volumes. Hopefully, as people's confidence starts to lift as we move through the alert level systems, the listings shortage will start to change,” Norwell concluded.
