There were 44,517 home transfers in the June 2021 quarter, the highest June quarter figure since 2016, Stats NZ said today.
The number of home transfers was very similar to the March 2021 quarter and was up 18,252 from the June 2020 quarter.
"The June 2020 quarter includes time spent at alert level 4 which reduced the number of property transfers made," property statistics manager Michael Heslop said.
| Quarter | Home transfers |
| Jun-16 | 46650 |
| Sep-16 | 43044 |
| Dec-16 | 40101 |
| Mar-17 | 33690 |
| Jun-17 | 39048 |
| Sep-17 | 34356 |
| Dec-17 | 36279 |
| Mar-18 | 32880 |
| Jun-18 | 39627 |
| Sep-18 | 35634 |
| Dec-18 | 37929 |
| Mar-19 | 31728 |
| Jun-19 | 37695 |
| Sep-19 | 36366 |
| Dec-19 | 39381 |
| Mar-20 | 33279 |
| Jun-20 | 26265 |
| Sep-20 | 41484 |
| Dec-20 | 51504 |
| Mar-21 | 44586 |
| Jun-21 | 44517 |
"Since then, the past 12 months have seen the number of home transfers increase substantially leading to the highest annual number of home transfers since the series began in 2015."
There were 182,091 home transfers in the year ended June 2021, up 46,800 from the year ended June 2020.
Not all transfers involve a sale. They also include a wide range of activities such as deceased estates, trustee changes, marriage settlements, boundary changes, and changes to the proportions of shares of ownership.
Auckland leads home transfers
There were 14,364 home transfers in Auckland in the June 2021 quarter, making up almost a third of all home transfers. Due to its population and size Auckland typically dominates national transfers.
The regions with the next highest number of home transfers were:
- Canterbury with 6,372
- Waikato with 4,941
- Wellington with 4,137
- Bay of Plenty with 2,973.
Overseas transfers remain low
The number of home transfers to buyers without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas has generally been falling since late 2018 when restrictions on the sale of residential property to overseas people came into force.
There were 135 home transfers made to buyers without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas in the June 2021 quarter, a total of 0.3 percent of all home transfers.
There were also 366 home transfers made by sellers without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas in the June 2021 quarter, a total of 0.8 percent.
| Quarter | Buyers | Sellers |
| Dec-16 | 2 | 1.2 |
| Mar-17 | 2 | 1.2 |
| Jun-17 | 2.3 | 1.2 |
| Sep-17 | 2.1 | 1.2 |
| Dec-17 | 2.6 | 1.2 |
| Mar-18 | 3 | 1.4 |
| Jun-18 | 2.7 | 1.2 |
| Sep-18 | 1.9 | 1 |
| Dec-18 | 2.1 | 1.1 |
| Mar-19 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Jun-19 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| Sep-19 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Dec-19 | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| Mar-20 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| Jun-20 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| Sep-20 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| Dec-20 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| Mar-21 | 0.4 | 0.9 |
| Jun-21 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
People without New Zealand citizenship or resident visas have made up a higher proportion of sellers than buyers since the March 2019 quarter.
For more information about property transfers and other buyer and seller types, see Property transfer statistics: June 2021 quarter.
