The trend across the last quarter of 2012 didn’t waiver as New Zealand house prices continued their climb to a record high in December, driven primarily by price gains in Auckland and Canterbury due to restricted supply.
December figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand show the national median house price stood at $389,000, up 9.6 per cent on December 2011.The REINZ Stratified House Price Index, which smooth’s out peaks and troughs in median prices, rose 6.7 per cent over the same period. The highest median price rise over the year was Auckland’s 10.5 per cent increase to $535,000 with Canterbury’s median price increased by eight per cent to a record high of $351,000. Queenstown experienced more modest price rise in 2012 with a 3.4% increase in the median price of residential dwellings up from $580,000 in the 2011 to $600,000 to 2012.
The Queenstown property market finished the year with a surge, with sales volume in December significantly up on recent years to levels not experienced since 2007. Locally new house listings remain at very low levels especially in the $450,000-$600,000 price band and the imbalance between supply and demand should continue to underpin improving transactional sales prices achieved for vendors. I quick review of the median sell price achieved for Queenstown’s residential dwelling in the last quarter were October ($588K), November ($580K) and December 2012 ($678,500).
The median sale price for the December quarter of $521,000 was also up 5% on the preceding year of $497,000 (*Note: this relates to dwellings of all types being homes, units, townhouses and apartments). December 2012 recorded 55 dwelling sales and 23 section sales, which was at similar transactional levels to November 2012 and up 73% on December 2011.
Section sales for the last quarter of 2012 were high at 52. This was more than double the 23 sales for the October to December quarter in 2011. There’s been regression in the median value of sections which was down on the preceding year ($265K to $239K in 2012) and is a reflection of good demand for affordable entry level sections for family home construction.
The combined value of all residential and rural lifestyle sales for December 2012 was $54,187,500, which is 39% up on the previous month of $38,894,500 and up 92% on the same period last year as a consequence of stronger buyer demand at the top end of the market, with nine sales recorded over $1.0m in December.
REINZ Reported sales by price of Queenstown Homes, Units and Townhouses.
Year-to-date January- December 2012 comparing 2011.
| Price Band | % of Total Sales 2012 | % of Total Sales 2011 |
| <$350,000 | 15.3% | 15.7% |
| $351,000 – $450,000 | 20.9% | 20.1% |
| $451,000 – $650,000 | 31.8% | 35.0% |
| $651,000 – $999,000 | 18.8% | 17.0% |
| $1.0m – $2.0m | 9.8% | 10.4% |
| $2.0m plus | 3.4% | 1.8% |
Queenstown Area Sales by Property Type Year-to-date
Report Period: January- December 2012 comparing 2011
□ Report compares aggregated sales for the calendar year 2012 v 2011
□ REINZ reported sales. Private / Developer direct sales not included.
| Property Type | Jan-Dec 2012 | Jan-Dec 2011 | Variance +/- |
| Residential Dwellings (RD) | 351 sales | 269 sales | +30.4% |
| RD Median Sell Price | $600,000 | $580,000 | +3.4% |
| Apartments (A) | 97 sales | 63 sales | +53.9% |
| A Median Sell Price | $420,000 | $495,000 | -15.1% |
| Units (U) | 101 sales | 92 sales | +9.7% |
| U Median Sell Price | $360,000 | $383,750 | -6.1% |
| Townhouses (TH) | 34 sales | 27 sales | +25.9% |
| TH Median Sell Price | $412,000 | $415,000 | -0.7% |
| Residential Sections (RS) | 158 sales | 131 sales | +20.6% |
| RS Median Sell Price | $239,000 | $265,000 | -9.8% |
| Rural (R) | 30 sales | 29 sales | +3.4% |
| R Median Sell Price | $820,000 | $1,100,000 | -25.4% |
| Total properties Sales | 771 sales | 611 sales | +20.7% |
| Total Value ($) of sales | $464,542,891 | $383,502,203 | +21.1% |
QUEENSTOWN AREA PROPERTY SALES: December 2012 v December 2011
Note: Data represents sales reported by REINZ agencies. Private sales not included.
| Type | Dec 2012 | Nov 2012 | Dec 2011 | |
| Number of sales | Residential Dwellings | 38 | 39 | 24 |
| Apartments | 4 | 9 | 5 | |
| Units | 9 | 11 | 5 | |
| Townhouses | 4 | 1 | ||
| Sections / Vacant | 23 | 17 | 7 | |
| Rural Lifestyle | 5 | 4 | ||
| TOTAL | 83 | 77 | 45 | |
| Value of sales ($) | Dwellings
(Excludes Apartments) |
$38,784,500 | $28,247,500 | $19,645,000 |
| Apartments | $1,990,000 | $4,021,000 | $2,169,000 | |
| Sections / Vacant | $8,223,000 | $5,626,000 | $2,702,500 | |
| Rural Lifestyle | $5,190,000 | $3,565,000 | ||
| TOTAL | $54,187,500 | $38,894,500 | $28,081,500 | |
| Median Sell Price | Dwellings all types | $568,000 | $476,500 | $565,000 |
| Apartments | $497,500 | $435,000 | $385,000 | |
| Residential Dwellings | $678,500 | $580,000 | $618,500 | |
| Units | $440,000 | $335,000 | $340,000 | |
| Townhouses | $410,500 | $511,000 (1) | ||
| Sections / Vacant | $236,000 | $225,000 | $225,000 | |
| Rural Lifestyle | $425,000 | $855,000 | ||
| Median days to Sell | Dwellings all types
(Includes apartments) |
49-days | 37-days | 44-days |
| Residential Sections | 36-days | 100-days | 45-days.
|
Data Source: REINZ. Private sales data not included.
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the information contained herewith is true, no responsibility will be taken for errors or omissions. You should seek your own independent advice from your legal, taxation and financial consultant prior to purchase.
Steve Lindsay 