More properties are selling for over $1 million than ever before, REINZ says

January 29, 2021
House keys (file picture).

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) says the number of properties which sold for more than $1 million has risen dramatically in the past year.

REINZ, which represents members of the real estate industry, said 18,181 properties sold for more than a million in 2020, up 68 per cent from 10,819 in 2019.

The new figure also set a new record, beating 11,619 million-dollar plus sales in 2016. 

REINZ Chief Executive Bindi Norwell said "when Covid-19 first hit New Zealand’s shores in Q1 2020, no one would have predicted that the year would become a record breaker for property prices and that we would conclude the year with a 68 per cent uplift in the number of million-dollar plus properties sold.

Seventy-two per cent of these sales were in the Auckland region alone.

"Additionally, the 2016 record was exceeded by more than 6,000 sales and this was the third consecutive year that New Zealand has seen a year-on-year increase in $1 million plus properties sold.

"The regions have seen a similar pattern, with a 61.5 per cent increase in $1 million plus property sales.

"This is a result of demand continuing to exceed supply in many parts of the country and shows the effect that the shortage of housing stock is having on house prices.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of properties sold at the top end of the market, with a 112.7 per cent increase in $3 million plus property sales nationally and a 71.9 per cent increase in $3 million plus property sales outside of Auckland.

"While the property market may have taken a slight pause in the first half of 2020 due to Covid related restrictions, the second half of the year showed signs of renewed confidence with more than two-thirds of the million-dollar-plus sales occurring in the last six months of 2020."

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