Queenstown Market Update - July 2024
Winter is well and truly upon us and, like the weather, the property market has also been cooling off over the past month or so, both locally and around the country.
The average New Zealand house price sits at $969,000. Let’s see how Queenstown stacks up.
HOUSE PRICES
The average house price for the Queenstown-Lakes region in June was $1,400,000, according to REINZ's June Report. This is down 0.1% on the month prior and up 6.2% on June 2023.
It’s clear that the steady market growth we were seeing has started to plateau off, and while there aren’t large drops in price like other parts of the country, the value growth is remaining flat.
As always, it’s important to take into account that this figure is significantly swayed by sales in suburbs such as Kelvin Heights (avg. property value $2,717,000) and Lake Hayes (avg. property value 2,636,000), and that the number of properties sold in these regions can have an effect on these average values.
MARKET ACTIVITY
First home buyers remain the most active buyer group in the region, with some owner-occupiers making moves too. It’s clear investors have adopted a bit of a ‘wait and see’ approach, and we expect to see a bit of movement here over the next few months with rules for investors easing at the start of the month.
The market definitely remains a little on the slower side, with local agents reporting reasonable attendance at lower-priced open homes, but very minimal attendance at open homes for higher-priced properties. This really ties in with what we are seeing around first home buyers being active in the market.
Properties are still selling well across all methods, with agents reporting that asking price, deadline sales and auction are all still doing well.
Across the Otago region, properties are taking on average 44 days to sell, which is down 13 days on this time last year. This shows that while things might be a little slower, properties are still moving, especially in the lower-priced brackets.
In terms of sales, in June there were 62 properties sold, which is dramatically down on 108 for the month before. Again, this is likely in part to the cooler weather and people waiting for Spring to list their homes, as well as a bit of hesitancy price-wise in the market from sellers.
MARKET CONDITIONS
With a number of positive changes for investors introduced on the 1st of July, it’s still too soon to tell what effect this could have on the market in the next year or so. It’s expected some investors could cash up, choosing to put their homes on the market with less fear of being caught by the Brightline test, which in turn is good news for those first home buyers, offering more choice.
It could also swing the other way, with more favourable investing rules meaning more investors in the market, making it harder for first home buyers to secure lower-priced properties. Only time will tell.
All we know for sure is that there is really no ‘perfect’ time to buy. With interest rates expected to begin to drop over the remainder of 2024, lower house prices and a cooler market, now is as good of a time as ever for those looking to enter the property market.
If this is you, reach out to our team of Queenstown mortgage advisors today and together we can make a plan to get you into your dream home sooner.
Source: REINZ & One Roof