New Zealand has won a global reputation for being the country where everyone wants to escape the world’s troubles.
The fresh air, space and beautiful countryside make it one of the most desirable nations to live peacefully.
There continues to be a steady trend in sales of lifestyle properties, despite the challenging economic conditions and rising interest rates.
While it is not a substantial bounce back from the boom of 2022, there are signs that property values outside the cities are moving in the right direction.
Almost 1,300 lifestyle properties were sold in the last three months of 2023. While that is down 2.6% on the number of similar homes sold the previous year, it represented an uptick of 76 deals (+6.2%) compared with the three months to last November.
Across 2023, sales were still adrift from the Covid period. Even though 5,433 properties were sold last year, that was still 20.2% down on 2022 figures.
The median price during the last three months of 2023 was $950,000, down $90,000 (-8.7%) from the corresponding period in 2022.
Data released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) also reports an increase in the sale of bareland blocks (93). However, prices remain under pressure because of increasing home construction costs.
A second influencing factor has been the Government’s decision to clamp down on residential subdivisions of farmland, which means fewer blocks are available. Block values increased in Wellington (12.8%) and Southland (4.3%).