Tue, Sep 14, 2021 1:22 PM

Nelson home sales and availability continue to drop

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Staff Reporter

Nelson saw the largest annual drop in sale volumes and house inventory levels in the country for the month of August, according to new real estate data.

The latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) data for August 2021 shows Nelson had a 50.9 per cent drop in annual sale volumes compared with 2020 - the largest drop for the month since records began.

Nelson saw just 53 houses sold in August, compared with 106 in the same month last year - a drop that is almost twice as high as the national average.

The average number of residential properties sold in August across Aotearoa decreased by 26.5 per cent when compared to the same time last year.

This August also saw the least number of properties sold for the month since 2014.

Nelson continued to sit near the top of the list for all the wrong reasons with one of the largest decreases in inventory levels.

In August 2020 Nelson had 320 homes for sale, but just a year later just 157 were listed - 163 fewer properties than last year.  

It was the lowest level of inventory for Nelson since records began.

What continues to rise annually in Nelson is house prices. Nelson saw the median house price rise from $592,345 in August 2020 to $670,000 in August 2021 - a 13.1 per cent jump.

This is however down 2.6 per cent from July 2021 where the median price was $688,000.

Tasman's median house price reached $800,000 with Marlborough's coming in at $585,000 in August.

REINZ chief executive Jen Baird says Nelson, Marlborough and Tasman saw continued confidence for the month with strong buyer enquiry, though many were waiting for eased restrictions to allow physical viewings of a property.

"All three regions are experiencing a slight decline in the number of first home buyers when compared to this time last year and this could be due to 86.3 per cent of properties now being sold above the $500,000 price point when compared to 69.7 per cent in August 2020," she says.

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