These eight graphs chart the changes in New Zealand's property market from 2014 to 2021 and illustrate the rapid gains made by homeowners over the period - and the dramatic decline in the number of homes at the bottom of the market.
The graphs cover New Zealand as a whole and the country's seven major metros and show for each year the percentage of homes that sits within the following 10 value brackets: >$0 - $500k; >$500k - $600k; >$600k - $700k; >$700k - $800k; >$800k - $900k; >$900k - $1m; >$1m - $1.2m; >$1.2m - $1.5m; >$1.5m - $2m; and >$2m.
Note, the value brackets reflect the dollar amount the houses have been valued at using data from OneRoof's data partner Valocity. The graphs are arranged by size of housing stock.
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New Zealand: In 2014, almost two-thirds of the country's housing stock had a value of $500,000 or less, while just seven per cent of homes had a value of over $1m. By 2021, the percentage of homes at the bottom of the market had shrunk to just 12%, while 43% of the country's homes had joined the $1m-plus club. The average rate of decline in the number of properties valued >$0 and $500,000 between 2014 and 2021 is 16%, but the biggest year-to-year drop in the value bracket (-51.72%) was between 2020 and 2021. The post-lockdown surge saw more homes join the top of the market, with the number of properties in the >$1.5m - $2m and >$2m value brackets rising 121% and 107%.
Auckland: The biggest shifts in Auckland's property values took place between 2014 and 2016, when the city's housing market was peaking and the number of sub-$500,000 properties shrank by around 45%, and 2020 and 2021, when there were contractions in the number properties in all but the top three value brackets. In eight years, the number of homes at the bottom of the market has plunged 88.7%, while the number at the top (those valued >$2m) has ballooned by 722%. Put another way, 29% of the city's housing stock had a value of $500,000 or less in 2014 and just 3% had a value of more than $2m, while in 2021 the numbers at the bottom and the top were 3% and 18%.
Christchurch: Property values in the city are for the most part static between 2014 and 2019, but the chart shows significant shifts in the last two years. The percentage of properties valued >$0 - $500K drops from 62% in 2019 to 52% in 2020 to just 13% in 2021. While the majority of Christchurch homes have a value of less than $1m, the post-Covid surge has lifted the bottom rung of the ladder for buyers, and the number of $1m-plus homes has grown from just 6% to almost 20% in the space of a year.
Wellington: Buying anything in the capital for less than seven figures will have been a challenge in 2021, with just 28% of the city's total housing stock valued at $1m or less. In the last year, the capital has seen big contractions in the number of homes in the >$500,000 to $1m value brackets. The biggest shift at the bottom of the market was between 2015 and 2016, when the number of properties valued $500,000 or less dropped from 49% to 28%. Since then the rate of decline has been around 31% year on year.
Hamilton: The number of entry-level homes (>$0 - $500K) has dropped from 84% in 2014 to three per cent in 2021 but the rate of decline only really accelerated in the last two years. The majority of the city's housing stock (29%) now sits within the >$700K - $800K value bracket, but almost 15,000 homes (27%) have a value of more than $1m, compared to just 257 in 2014.
Tauranga: Almost three-quarters of homes in 2014 had a value of $500,000 or less but by 2016 that number had shrunk to just 31%. The next big crunches came in 2020 and 2021, when the percentage of homes in the >$0 - $500K bracket tumbled from 12% to five per cent and then one per cent. Almost two-thirds of Tauranga homes now have a value of more than $1m, up from four per cent in 2014.
Dunedin: Of all the major metros, Dunedin had the biggest percentage of homes in the >$0 - $500K bracket for the longest, starting in 2014 with 91% and staying steady until 2019, when the market surged and the percentage tumbled from 75% the year before to 52%. By 2021 the percentage of homes in the bracket fell to 13%, although the bulk of the city's housing stock still sits below $1m.
Queenstown-Lakes: The heat in Queenstown's housing market saw the percentage of homes in the >$0 - $500K value bracket shrink from 34% in 2014 to 9% in 2016. By 2020 it had dwindled to one per cent, with 80% of homes carrying a value of more than $1m. Of all the major metros, Queenstown has, at 21%, the highest percentage of homes with a value of more $2m. Auckland is second, with 18%, while Dunedin has the least.
