The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand released its monthly property report for December 2021 yesterday, which found only 383 homes were sold in the region during the month.
That compared with 525 in December 2020.
The median house price in the region increased 13.6% over the same period to $721,000 - Dunedin’s media price was $650,000 last month and Queenstown’s was $1,325,115.
The average number of days to sell in Otago was 30.
Meanwhile, the number of homes sold in Southland in December was 154, down from 200 12 months prior.
The region’s median price increased 21.3% in the 12-month period to December to $455,000 - Invercargill’s average price was $460,000 and Gore’s was $375,000.
REINZ chief executive Jen Baird said the most prevalent buyers in the Southland market were owner-occupiers.
"New lending criteria impacted the numbers of first-home buyers, and new regulations affected investor numbers."
She expected listings would continue to increase in the region over the summer months.
The average number of days to sell in the region was 22.
Nationally, sales volumes were down 21% in December compared with November.
A total of 6755 residential transactions took place in December, compared with 8585 in November.
The national median house price for December was $905,000, down from $920,000 the month before.
Auckland’s median prices also fell from November’s $770,000 to $760,000.
- Staff reporter
