According to the latest data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, the median days to sell properties on the market in Otago was 47 in April this year.
This was an increase of three days in one month and six days in one year and was 11 days higher than the 10-year average for that month.
Meanwhile, the number of sales in the region dropped by more than 100 from 470 to 367 between March and April.
Dunedin also had a drop in sales from 223 to 161 between the months.
Nidd Realty’s most recent property report put the median time to sell properties in Dunedin during April at 51 days.
It said this had risen by more than 10 days since the start of the year.
Property Brokers Dunedin sales manager Dan Ferguson said there had been a “record high number” of properties on the market over the past couple of months.
“We got up to like early to mid-900 properties on the market for Dunedin and the surrounds for that time period, which is very high.”
The market had favoured buyers so far this year because they had more choice, but this had recently tapered back as winter approached.
The increase in sale time was “pretty insignificant” and was reflective of the volume of listings and level of urgency at the time, Mr Ferguson said.
April had been a “bit of a funny month” with school holidays, Anzac Day and Easter — which also affected buyer urgency.
He estimated there were about 750 listings at present and predicted the market would remain stable through winter.
Bayleys Dunedin managing director Chris Maclean said there had been a high number of listings from as early as December last year in response to uncertainty in the market.
“The number of sales was quite low, and it just wasn’t keeping up with the number of listings.
“So, it actually got up to 900 quite quickly, which is high for Dunedin. That’s as high as it’s been for a long time except for 2008 … and that was over 1000.”
The number of listings almost directly related to sale time, and when buyers had more choice, they could feel more confident waiting and looking at other options.
“Even if they quite liked the property, they didn’t have to react quickly because they weren’t at real risk of losing it.”
Dunedin was a “small and nimble dynamic market” that could change quickly, and as properties which had been listed for longer started to sell, this could drive the median sale time downward, Mr Maclean said.
He believed the sale time of properties in the city was on a trajectory to drop and the number of sales would increase.
