Residential sales volumes, prices and values in Queenstown have received a welcome boost which could signal the beginning of the "journey back to a more balanced market", the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has said.
Total sales for March increased 95% from $16.9 million in 2008, to $33 million last month, which included more than $15 million in sales from nine properties of which nine sold for more than $1 million each and two sold for more than $3 million each, REINZ Lakes District spokesman Adrian Snow said yesterday.
"Mortgagee sales continue to attract very good interest, indicating that money is available to spend on residential real estate and that buyer confi-dence does exist," Mr Snow said yesterday.
However, he highlighted that managed apartment sales remained in a "depressed state", with "high numbers" on the market and few buyers for them. Residential apartments remained "beyond the malaise" of the languishing managed-apartment market and were still in demand, he said.
Total apartment sales increased from $1.72 million in value to $4.9 million for March - sales numbers increasing only from five to six - but this was comparing the 2008 figures which were depressed because of a small number of low-value sales at the time, Mr Snow said.
Similarly, the "uncertainty" of the beginning of the recession a year ago was being compared with the March sales this year which reflected improving buyer confidence and the overall upturn from almost $17 million to $33 million for the month.
For the 12 months to the end of February, the Lakes District experienced the largest fall of median house prices, down 17.5% to $425,000 in 2009 from $515,000 in 2008, but remained the highest median in the country, ahead of Auckland at $421,500.
Yesterday, Mr Snow said Auckland and the wider Central Otago Lakes District region were level on median March prices of $435,000 each; however, the Queenstown sub-region retained the highest median in the country at $535,000 per dwelling.
Aside from the lower prices offered in mortgagee sales, Mr Snow said lower interest rates because of a reduced official cash rate were affecting the property market, and one local agency was reporting increased activity from speculative buyers.
"The news has definitely swung from negative to neutral and it now contains the first reports of positive figures," Mr Snow said.
Thirty-two dwellings were sold in March a year ago in the Lakes district, compared with 44 in March this year, and median prices were up slightly by 6% from $502,500 a year ago to $535,000, Mr Snow said.
Since late December, Mr Snow said agencies had reported a noticeable increase in buyer confidence.
"All agencies are reporting very low stock levels of properties which are priced to meet the market, suggesting market forces may begin their journey back to a more balanced market," Mr Snow said.
