Jul 8th, 2013
The Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) has just released this afternoon nationally consolidated sales figures for properties sold NZ wide during the month of June 2013.

Nelson City saw its median steady at $351,000, to all intents and purposes practically the same figure as June 2009, nevertheless what took 47 days to sell back in June 2009, took just 31 days in June 2013.

Interestingly though, as above, although we are seeing June pricing staying reasonably steady, the data that does tell the picture is in the other two metrics. Over the last few years we have seen a mixture in the number of properties sold in Nelson City each June, but telling is the DOM figures. (Days on Market – aka Days to Sell) Junes figure, at 31 days, is the lowest for quite a while.
Nelson City sections sales were down on the usually increased transactions we have seen this year, only 5 changed hands. However some indication can be taken in the DOM figure here too at 78 days ….. in case you weren’t aware, locally that’s healthy indeed.

Ultimately the new REINZ Stratified Median Housing Price Index does indeed depict what is happening and why the RBNZ is talking up debate around increasing LVR levels in NZ.
The inventory issue is typically always reflected in the “weeks of inventory on market” figure, and in case you can’t see that on this chart, it goes like this, Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, Otago, Nelson…

SOURCE – www.realestate.co.nz (NZ Property Report – June 2013)
Part of the reason why prices seem to still be on the rise, and as I have spoken about here plenty of times before, is its always about SUPPLY Vs DEMAND, and the chart below shows no improvement on that “supply” side.

SOURCE – www.realestate.co.nz JUNE 2013 NZ PROPERTY REPORT
In this months press release the Institute comment;
The REINZ Stratified Housing Price Index, which adjusts for some of the variations in mix that can impact on the median price, is 8.4% higher than June 2012 and eased very sightly compared to May. The Auckland, Christchurch and Other South Island Stratified Housing Price Indices all hit new record highs in June, with the Auckland Index up 19.8% compared to June 2012, the Christchurch Index is up 10.6% and the Other South Island Index up 7.3%.
(Emphasis added by me)
Important takeouts from this months REINZ summary were;
• 6,135 houses sold in June 2013, equal to the number sold in June 2012
• New median high price in Canterbury/Westland
• New National Stratified Index highs for Auckland, Christchurch and Other South Island
Locally, the Institutes Nelson representative commented;
The number of days to sell improved by six days compared to May, from 45 days in May to 39 days in June. Compared to June 2012 the number of days to sell improved by 16 days. Over the past 10 years the average number of days to sell in June across the region has been 44 days.
That was the month that was June 2013.
SOURCE – REINZ Press Release “Sales Growth Takes A Breather In June Real Estate Market” – 8th July 2013