Auckland's halo affect on Tauranga homes

Aerial. Tauranga City CBD. Photo/file

Sales volumes hit new levels and median house prices reached new record highs across more New Zealand regions including the Bay of Plenty than ever before, according to the latest figures released today by REINZ, source of the most recent, complete and accurate real estate data in New Zealand.

Record median prices were reached in Waikato/Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Canterbury/Westland and Otago. This shows the growing 'Halo Effect' of rising prices around New Zealand is strengthening in the regions where it is already present, and moving on to new regions, driven by a chronic lack of supply.

Median prices rose in Tauranga (39 per cent), Mt Maunganui/Papamoa (26 per cent), and Waikato Country (24 per cent). Compared to March 2016 the median price for the region rose by $2000 (+1 per cent) and on a seasonally adjusted basis prices rose by 1.2 per cent.

REINZ regional director Philip Searle said: The Waikato/Bay of Plenty region continues to see strong demand, combined with a chronic lack of supply.

"The level of listings has dropped 60 per cent compared to April last year, with many towns across the region reporting very low levels of properties for sale. The Auckland Halo Effect is in full swing across the region, with the overall trend for Waikato/Bay of Plenty moving from improving to rising."

Nationally, on a seasonally adjusted basis* the number of dwellings sold in April 2016 rose by 12.8 per cent compared to March, indicating that the normally-expected drop in sales between March and April was far smaller than usual. And compared to April 2015, all regions recorded increases in sales volume.

At the same time, the availability of properties for sale has fallen by over one third over the past 12 months, with a number of regions seeing declines of more than half. Days to sell, another measure of demand has also fallen by more than 20 per cent over the past 12 months in nine of the twelve regions.

The national median price was $490,000 for April, an increase of $35,000 (7.7 per cent) on April 2015, and down 1.0 per cent compared to March. Excluding the impact of the Auckland region, the national median price rose $29,000 to $382,000 compared to April 2015.