Home transfers in the March 2021 quarter were up by one-third compared with the same period last year, Stats NZ said today.
There were 44,586 home transfers in the March 2021 quarter, down from the high of 51,504 seen in the December 2020 quarter but still up 34 percent compared with the same period last year.
"The high number of home transfers in March follows a strong December 2020 quarter. Typically, there is a seasonal drop between the December and March quarters in part due to the summer holiday period," property statistics manager Michael Heslop said.
| Quarter | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| June | 39627 | 37695 | 26265 | |
| September | 35634 | 36366 | 41484 | |
| December | 37929 | 39381 | 51504 | |
| March | 32880 | 31728 | 33279 | 44586 |
Auckland home transfers up 60 percent
Auckland led the rise in the number of home transfers with 5,628 (60 percent) more home transfers occurring in the March 2021 quarter when compared with the March 2020 quarter, but rises were seen across all regions except Hawke's Bay.
Other major regions with annual increases were:
- Canterbury, up 1,509 (31 percent)
- Waikato, up 1,122 (30 percent)
- Wellington, up 669 (20 percent).
| Region | Percentage Change |
| Northland | 30 |
| Auckland | 60 |
| Waikato | 30 |
| Bay of Plenty | 21 |
| Gisborne | 14 |
| Hawke's Bay | -1 |
| Taranaki | 23 |
| Manawatū-Whanganui | 5 |
| Wellington | 20 |
| Nelson | 30 |
| Marlborough | 6 |
| Tasman | 16 |
| West Coast | 53 |
| Canterbury | 31 |
| Otago | 34 |
| Southland | 28 |
Northland, Nelson, West Coast, and Otago also saw annual increases of at least 30 percent with Hawke's Bay as the only region which didn't see an increase.
| Selected region | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Auckland | 8256 | 9336 | 14964 |
| Waikato | 3513 | 3735 | 4857 |
| Canterbury | 4596 | 4854 | 6363 |
Auckland continues to dominate the overall market with home transfers up 80 percent from two years ago.
Overseas buyers make up a small proportion of transfers
The number of home transfers to buyers without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas has generally been falling since 2018 when restrictions on the sale of residential property to overseas people came into force.
There were 192 home transfers made to buyers without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas in the March 2021 quarter, a total of 0.4 percent of all home transfers.
Waitematā (Auckland inner city) usually has the most home transfers to people without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas. This quarter there were 75, making up 5.6 percent of total home transfers in the area.
