Property Investment
3 min read
NZ property market report #12 - 25th February '25
Over the last 12 months New Zealand property prices are down 1.5%. That includes that 0.2% decrease in January.
Here is your monthly property report. As usual, all the data you signed up to get is below.
But first – I received a great email last month.
I often say that property prices bottomed out in May 2023. That was the bottom of the market.
But this reader asked: “But I thought house prices went down in December 2024? How was the bottom of the market in May 2023?”
He’s right. Property prices did go down in December. But they are still 2.6% higher than they were in May 2023.
But it got me thinking … sometimes you don’t want to look at how house prices are changing month to month.
Because each month of the calendar impacts the property market in a different way.
No – I’m not saying the property market has a horoscope!
For example, property prices are usually weak in December. Not many people are buying houses over Christmas.
Then, property prices typically go up more in February. They bounce back after the summer break.
So, if you care about where the market is heading … don’t just look at whether prices are up or down.
You need to strip the seasonal factors out.
House prices went down 0.2% in January 2025. But once you adjust for those seasonal factors … they went up 0.2%. It was a strong result for January. The market is improving.
Last September, prices went up 1%. But once you strip out the seasonal effects, they were only up 0.5%.
The market was improving, but not by as much as that “1% increase” figure might suggest.
See how actual prices jump around more than the seasonally adjusted prices?
Seasonality impacts the property market in different ways, too.
There were over 7.6 million searches for rental properties on TradeMe in January. That’s the number of times tenants looked at rentals online.
That’s up 38% on December. But up only 3% year on year.
More people look for rental properties in January.
There are two big takeaways from this:
- If you’re looking for the right time to make a move … pay attention to the seasonal trends.
- It’s not a good time to sell a property in December. But it’s a great time to look for a tenant in January.
- But if you want to understand where the market is moving … ignore the seasonal trends. Strip them out and only look at the underlying movements.
Right, on to the data you signed up for below –
New Zealand
🟠 house prices are down 0.2% over the last month
🔴 days to sell are up 8.0% year on year. 54 vs 50 days to sell this time last year
🔴 the number of listings is up 18.8% year on year. 32,652 listings are currently on the market vs 27,483 this time last year (+5,169).
🟢 the number of sales was up 20.5% in January compared to the same month the previous year.
🟠 the average rent is up 2.6% in November compared to last year.
Over the last 12 months New Zealand property prices are down 1.5%. That includes that 0.2% decrease in January.
In January it took 54 days to sell a property (on average). That's 4 days more than the same time last year.
Currently there are 32,652 properties on the market. That is up 18.8% compared to last January.
In terms of sales, January was much stronger than the previous year. 3,774 properties sold last month. Up 20.5% on the prior year.
Rents also role. They are up 2.6% year-on-year across the country. Over the last twelve months the average rent increased by $15 a week, from $585 to $600.
A lot of you also asked for the average rent broken down by property type and number of bedrooms.
The average rent for a:
- 2-bed townhouse is $585, that's up 1% since last year
- 3-bed townhouse is $710, that's down 1% since last year
- 3-bed house is $660, no change year-on-year
- 4-bed house is $800, also no change since last year
The number of rental searches on TradeMe was up 3% last month compared to the same time last year.
The number of listings were up 26% compared to the same time last year.
So supply is still increasing faster than demand. That’s why rental prices are weak. They’re not increasing much.
Ed
P.S. All the data I share below is NOT seasonally adjusted. I’ll look to include more seasonally adjusted data next month. That way, you can spot the underlying trends in your area.
Ed McKnight
Our Resident Economist, with a GradDipEcon and over five years at Opes Partners, is a trusted contributor to NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, Stuff, Business Desk, and OneRoof.
Ed, our Resident Economist, is equipped with a GradDipEcon, a GradCertStratMgmt, BMus, and over five years of experience as Opes Partners' economist. His expertise in economics has led him to contribute articles to reputable publications like NZ Property Investor, Informed Investor, OneRoof, Stuff, and Business Desk. You might have also seen him share his insights on television programs such as The Project and Breakfast.