Central Otago/Lakes District average asking price reaches record high

The Central Otago/Lakes District is bucking property trends with asking prices up 18.9 per cent year on year.

But properties are also hard to come by in the region, with total listings down 5.5 per cent year on year.

The average asking price in the Central Otago/Lakes District was more than $1.65 million in October, making it the first region in New Zealand to cross the $1.6m average mark.

Vanessa Williams, spokesperson for realestate.co.nz, says this is a strong indicator not only of the region’s strength but growing confidence in the property market overall.

“This region is the most expensive in the country, so this record high could be an early signal of a strengthening market.”

The increase bucks national trends as nationally, the average asking price was up a marginal 1.1% year-on-year to $862,563 in October.

While the 12,209 new listings recorded in October nationally, were the highest for the month since 2018, the same couldn't be said for Central Otago/Lakes.

There were 267 new listings for the region in October, down from 292 year-on-year, but still the highest number of new listings in any month this year.

This was made up of 235 homes, 15 apartments, and 17 lifestyle blocks.

“With an increase in listings hitting the market, plus a regional all-time asking price high like we’ve never seen before, there are early signals that a shift is beginning to take place," Williams says.

"With asking prices remaining stable across the majority of our 19 regions, both buyers and sellers can enter the market feeling confident it will deliver a favourable result.”