After surging in the wake of COVID-19 livestyle property sales are starting to ease, according to the latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
According to the data, there were 302 fewer sales - a drop of 10.9 percent - for the three months ended February 2021 compared to the three months ended January 2021.
However sales remain well up on a year earlier, with 2471 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended February 2021, compared to 1769 for the same period in 2020 - an increase of 39.7 percent.
The drop in sales compared to January comes after the COVID-19 lockdown last year led to a spike of interest from Kiwis in moving to lifestyle blocks.
A total of 9244 lifestyle properties were sold in the financial year to February 2021, 1992 (27.5 percent) more than in the year to February 2020.
The value of lifestyle properties sold in the year to February 2021 was $8.77 billion.
The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to February was $845,000 - $135,000 higher compared to the same time last year.
REINZ rural spokesperson Brian Peacocke said despite the fewer sales compared to the three months ended January sales remain strong overall.
"Sales figures for the three-month period ending February 2021 reflect an easing trend from the previous period ending January 2021, but nevertheless, on a month-by-month basis, February sales were 32 percent ahead of the figures for the previous month of January," he said.
He said all regions apart from one - Manawatu/Wanganui - had an increase in sales over the period.
"Market conditions remain strong, listings in many areas are constrained and timeframe for achieving a sale is reducing.
"Given the current level of interest rates and the consistency in the median price, the outlook for the sector at this stage is extremely positive."
The regions that saw the biggest increases in sales were Auckland, with 195 more sales, and Canterbury, which had an extra 137.
All fourteen regions monitored saw an increase in the median price of lifestyle blocks compared to the three months ending February 2021.
The biggest jumps in price were in Otago (up 45 percent), Gisborne (up 39 percent) and bay of Plenty (up 33 percent).
The median number of days for lifestyle properties to sell over the period was 53.
