Dipping house prices mirror national trend

Property sales dived in Otago last month, with more than four agents for every sale in Queenstown, and only about half the number of houses sold in Dunedin, compared with March last year.

Wanaka stood out in an otherwise gloomy month, as sales nationally fell.

But despite the sales plunge many regions showed a rise in the median price.

In the Central Otago region, 53 houses were sold, down on 84 in March last year, and 60 in February this year.

In Queenstown, sales were down markedly, with 32 houses sold in March, compared with 39 in February and 67 in March last year.

North Otago had 50 sales, compared with 58 in February, and 66 in March last year.

In South Otago, 26 houses sold, compared with 29 in February and 34 in March last year.

Dunedin had 162 sales, down from 244 in February, and well below 311 in March last year.

Wanaka recorded 30 sales, up on 28 in March last year.

Nationally, there were 5129 sales, compared with 10,989 in March last year.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) Otago branch president Liz Nidd said there was a buyers' market in Dunedin, with a huge amount of stock available. Sellers had to be realistic about the prices they were asking, although prices were coming down.

Sellers who had their properties priced too high were sending buyers to better priced properties.

Of the 162 sales, 108 were for $300,000 or less. There were only two sales of properties worth more than $600,000 last month in Dunedin.

High interest rates were affecting this part of the market.

Although she had no firm details, Mrs Nidd had heard anecdotally that some agents were leaving the industry.

The Dunedin median price was $265,500 in March, up from $240,000 in February, and $250,000 in March last year.

She said the median price was affected by smaller sales volume.

As soon as talk started of a declining property market, it continued to decline and was carried along by ‘‘media hype''.

REINZ Queenstown spokesman Adrian Snow said the main activity in Queenstown was in the market below $600,000, and there was only one sale above $1 million.

The median price in Queenstown had dropped to $502,500, from $565,000 in February but risen from $491,000 in March last year.

It had been a quiet month, carrying on from the past few months.

The market had slowed down, especially in the $600,000 to $1 million sector, Mr Snow said.

With an estimated 140 sales agents in Queenstown, sales were being spread thinly.

‘‘We've got a dramatic changing industry right now and people will have to adjust to the change,'' he said.

However, REINZ Wanaka spokesman Ross Rainsford said the Wanaka market was continuing as if nothing had happened.

The median price in Wanaka was $595,000 last month compared with $522,000 last March.

The median price in North Otago was also higher, at $227,000, up from $202,000 in February, and $194,500 in March last year.