New Zealand's fastest selling suburb is also one its cheapest. Sales figures from property analysts CoreLogic show that homes in Kingswell, Invercargill, spent the fewest days on market.
The median selling period in the South Island suburb was a super-fast seven days, CoreLogic found - well below the current median of 40 days.
House prices in Kingswell are low - the suburb has a median value $230,000 - fuelling demand among first home buyers. However, the fast sales rate is also likely to be putting pressure on prices, with house values up 18 percent in the last 12 months, according separate figures from OneRoof.
CoreLogic looked at 687 suburbs across New Zealand that had at least 500 properties and recorded 20 sales or more in the year ending July August 2019. It identified 220 suburbs where properties spent three weeks or less on the market before selling, and 56 where the median days to sell was 14 days or less.
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It also identified 45 suburbs where properties spent more 50 days on market before selling, and seven where the median days to sell was 100 days or more.
The suburbs where properties spent the least days on market tended to be the most affordable. Of the 12 suburbs where properties were snapped in 10 days or less, the majority had median values of less than $400,000. Just one, Kelvin Grove in Palmerston North, had a median value above $500,000.
Of the 12 fastest selling suburbs, Woodville, in Tararua, and Strathern, in Invercargill, both had relatively high turnover rates - 8.2 and 8.4 percent (sales as percentage of existing stock of houses). OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan said: "This means demand in both locations isn't being fuelled by scarcity of stock. Buyers are genuinely hot for houses in both suburbs, putting homeowners there in a good selling position."
The fastest selling suburb in Auckland was Laingholm in Waitakere, where the median days to sell was 14 days. The demand for homes there, though, hasn't boosted prices, with the suburb's median value falling four percent in the last 12 months, according OneRoof figures.
The Auckland suburb where properties spent the most days on market was Clarks Beach, in Franklin. Thirty-eight homes sold in the waterfront suburb in last 12 months but spent an average 123 days on the market before snagging a buyer. Only Buller District, in Westport, had a higher median days to sell - at 168 days.
CoreLogic senior economist Kelvin Davidson said measuring the turnover rate in addition to days on market gave a fuller picture of buyer demand.
Kumeu and Hobsonville, Auckland's west, both had the country's highest turnover rates - 14.7 percent and 12.7 percent respectively. Davidson said both suburbs were big development areas, "so you’d expect high sales levels as the new-builds are sold off". The fact both had high median days on market meant buying activity was steady rather than frantic - typical of development areas.
Vaughan added: "High turnover hasn't lifted prices in Kumeu, with the suburb suffering the country's biggest 12-month drop in property values - down 24 percent to $.14 million, according the latest OneRoof Property Report figures."
Davidson said that the rest of the fast movers - those with turnover rates of 8 percent or above - were no surprise. "There is plenty of representation in the rankings for suburbs in Invercargill, Hastings, Tararua and Whanganui – all of which have seen strong price growth lately. In these cases, fast moving means lots of demand, and rising prices," he said.
