18th January 2010

Interestingly the Real Estate Institute reports that the national median of $360,000 was up 9.6 percent on December 2008’s figure of $328,500.

During December the local Nelson Property market saw 81 residential sales.

In its press release the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand mentioned that the largest gains were in Nelson/Marlborough, up 14.5 percent to $343,500, followed by Southland up 10.8 percent to $184,000 and Hawke’s Bay, also up 9.4 percent to $290,000.

Really nothing conclusive about this chart, more a steady as she goes snapshot. 81 units sold vs 100 the prior month of Nov 09, but better than Dec 08’s 73.

A nudge upwards in the median price saw a Nelson Council zone house up to $367,500 in December (November 2009: $326,500; December 2008: $296,000).

“Days taken to Sell” lowered to 28 days, a real reflection of the tight inventory situation experienced over the period.

CHART – click on above for larger version

Sections were still strong …….with 13 sold in Dec 09, a modest change from the 14 sold in November 2009.

The Valuation to Sales Comparison chart certainly displays that inventory situation and its effect on pricing.

You can also see a slight upwards movement in local expectations from a listing price point of view displayed by the purple line above.

In our local predominantly family market 38 x 3 bedroom homes sold, nudging 47% of the units by percentage last month. That said just like most months in Nelson, the 2 bedroom market still shows healthy numbers too.