Housing Prices Still Rising

The latest figures from REINZ show Hawkes Bay achieved its fourth record monthly median price increase in a row with February achieving a median price of $704,000 up 36.4% on the $516,000 median recorded for February last year.

The country as a whole also recorded a new median price record of $780,000 and there are now 7 districts that have median prices exceeding $1,000,000

Sales volumes in February also reached new heights around the country however Hawkes Bay was one of seven provinces that experienced a decline in sales numbers with 59 fewer properties sold in February 2021 compared to February 2020 a decline of -22.3%. Is this a sign of a plateauing of our market, we think not but time will tell.

Looking at properties available for sale, we are now, fortunately seeing a slight increase however there is still a significant shortage of compared with buyer demand.  We have seen some investors selling down due to the demands placed on them under the revised Residential Tenancies Act, unfortunately this does not help first home buyers much as the lenders want “compliant” houses.  Who knows how this will play out?