There were 80 property sales totalling more than $53 million in Queenstown last month, making it the strongest month for the resort in five years.
Nine houses priced over $1 million were sold last month, following on from 10 sales over $1 million in April.
Real Estate Institute of New Zealand Queenstown spokesman Kelvin Collins said May's results were a continuation of the positive market the resort had experienced since the beginning of the year and appeared to be sustainable sales volumes.
"Buyer demand has not significantly increased, but we are seeing prospective buyers making decisions faster when property is realistically priced.
"[The] strongest demand over the last five months has been from first-home buyers, although this is now moving to higher-priced property."
There was good demand from residents for family houses in the $550,000 to $700,000 price range last month, Mr Collins said.
There were 65 dwelling sales last month, which was "significantly up" on May 2011, and 15 section sales, compared with 10 sales in May 2011.
The combined value of dwelling and section sales for last month was $53,611,749, up almost 100% on May 2011.
The median sale price of dwellings - $525,000 - was slightly higher than the average for the first five months of the year, Mr Collins said.
