House sales plummet in lockdown
The number of properties sold decreased by 78.5% from April 2019 – from 6,082 to 1,305 – and by 82.2% from March as the lockdown made it very difficult for property sales to occur.
In Auckland, which seems to have been the region least affected, the number of properties sold in April was down by 68.8% year-on-year (from 1,725 to 538) and by 78.9% on March.
But sales in all regions were affected by the lockdown, with Southland, Nelson, Manawatu/Wanganui and Gisborne seeing the biggest annual declines.
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell says the decrease in sales is not surprising as for the first 27 days of the month the country was in complete lockdown and sales could only take place via contactless methods like online/phone auctions or using digital technology such as FlexiSign.
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