The average asking price for homes for sale in Southland reached an all-time high in November, increasing 21.9% year on year to $439,993.

The real-time data has been released today by realestate.co.nz which it says reflects 97% of all properties listed through registered estate agents in New Zealand, giving a representative view of the New Zealand property market.

The national average asking price in November was $797,156 – up 3.2% on last month and a 17.1% increase on November last year.  

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Vanessa Taylor, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz, said that although 12,622 new listings came onto the market last month, overall stock levels remain low around New Zealand, driving the increased prices across the country.

“Nationally the total number of homes available for sale in November was down 16.9% on November 2019, with nine regions recording 13-year record stock lows. That’s despite a 14.5% year-on-year increase in new listings,” she said.

Southland was one of seven regions to hit all-time average asking price highs in November. 

By the month’s end realestate.co.nz figures showed there were 305 residential dwellings listed for sale in Southland – down 16.2% on the same time last year. Based on historical records, it’s estimated that – if no new listings were to come onto the market – all the existing properties for sale in Southland would be gone within nine weeks.

Average asking price is not a valuation, but it is an indication of current market sentiment and realestate.co.nz says that, statistically, asking prices tend to correlate closely with the sales prices recorded in future months when those properties are sold.

“While average asking prices indicate what vendors are expecting to get rather than what properties are actually selling for, they are usually a good indicator of what will happen with sales prices,” Taylor said.

Average asking prices in Auckland topped $1 million for the third consecutive month, despite a significant 45.9% year-on-year increase in new listings.