Auckland and Wellington homes took the longest to sell of any August on record

Homes in Auckland and Wellington took longer to sell last month than in any August on record, while prices across most of the South Island kept climbing, according to figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand on Tuesday.

The institute’s August 2026 figures show a national market that held its value but lost its pace. The national median sale price was $750,000, down 1.3 percent on August 2025, and the REINZ House Price Index eased 0.9 percent to 3,543. Sales fell 13.0 percent to 5,430, the sixth lowest August count in 35 years of REINZ records.

Across the country a home took a median 51 days to sell, three days longer than a year earlier and the fourth highest August figure on record. In the two biggest northern cities the wait was far longer. RNZ reported that Auckland recorded a median 54 days against a 10-year August average of 43, and the Wellington region a median 60 days against a 10-year August average of 41. Wellington also had its lowest August sales count on record.

“Property values generally held steady nationally, even as transactions softened in August. Rather than significant price movement, the change was in the pace of the market, with fewer sales and properties taking longer to sell,” REINZ chief executive Lizzy Ryley said in the institute’s release.

The sharper story is where the market is moving and where it is not. Every South Island series on the REINZ House Price Index rose over the three months to August, while seven of the eight North Island series fell. Southland’s index was up 8.1 percent on a year earlier, ahead of Otago at 3.5 percent and Canterbury at 2.7 percent. Those three were the only regions with annual index growth of more than 1 percent.

Median prices told a similar tale. Southland’s median rose 7.4 percent to $505,000 from 129 sales, and Tasman’s rose 5.6 percent to $830,000 from 70 sales. Northland was up 3.6 percent to $630,000, the West Coast up 2.5 percent to $410,000 and Canterbury up 1.5 percent to $700,500. Auckland and Taranaki were unchanged on a year earlier. Tasman, the West Coast, Canterbury and Southland each recorded their highest August median on record, and Central Otago District set a new record median of $895,000. REINZ notes these are nominal August records in a series running back to 1992 and are not outright all time highs.

Ryley told RNZ that buyers in Auckland and Wellington seemed to feel there was no need to hurry, while in Southland the market was moving towards what she called a slight fear of missing out. “At the moment in Auckland, there is no real fear of missing out. The market feels stable and so people make decisions when they are ready to make decisions,” she said.

The supply figures explain much of that. New listings fell 5.1 percent nationally to 8,326, yet the total stock of homes for sale rose 9.7 percent to 32,908, which REINZ said indicates available stock remained elevated as properties took longer to sell. Inventory was higher than a year earlier in 14 of the 15 regions REINZ tracks. Southland was the only region where it fell, for the second month running. Auckland and Wellington have now had 31 consecutive months of year on year inventory growth. In Auckland, 3,278 new listings came to market, almost exactly the same as August 2025.

“Stock levels are playing an important role in how individual markets are moving,” Ryley said. “Where buyers have a lot of options, they can take more time before deciding. In other areas with fewer new listings, competition is helping maintain momentum.”

Southland shows the other side of that. Its median days to sell was the lowest for an August since 2018. At the other end, Northland had its highest median days to sell since January 2024, Taranaki its highest August figure since 2012 and Marlborough its highest August figure since 2014. Auction sales also slipped, to 636 or 11.7 percent of all sales, from 776 or 12.4 percent a year earlier.

The long slide in the two big northern cities is also visible in how far prices remain from their peak. RNZ reported that national prices were still 17.1 percent below their peak, with Auckland just under 25 percent below and Wellington 30.3 percent below. Canterbury was only 0.8 percent below its peak and Otago and Southland 1.1 percent below.

That gap has changed the affordability picture more than the headline prices suggest. Newswire’s analysis of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s Local Housing Statistics, which measure how many years of median household income it takes to buy a median priced home, shows the biggest improvements have come in the north. Of the 18 cities in that series, Wellington City has improved the most. Its figure fell from 9.6 years at the end of 2021 to 6.4 years at the end of 2025, a drop of about 33 percent. Auckland’s fell from 11.9 years at its June 2022 peak to 8.5 years, a drop of about 29 percent, equal second with Palmerston North. Christchurch City and Invercargill City improved by only about 13 percent from their 2022 peaks, to 7.7 years and 5.8 years, and only Queenstown Lakes improved less. Invercargill is still the most affordable of the 18 cities on that measure. Those HUD figures run to December 2025 and do not include this year’s movements.

Borrowing costs are pushing in the other direction. REINZ said fixed mortgage rates moved higher in August as the major banks repriced in the first two weeks of the month, following moves in wholesale markets through July. The Official Cash Rate did not change during August, but on 2 September the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee lifted it by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent, and the banks passed the full rise on to floating mortgage rates within a day. That decision falls outside the August figures.

REINZ said household costs, job security, global uncertainty and the lead up to the November general election had led some buyers to take a wait and see approach during the month, while stronger employment conditions in the South Island and favourable farming conditions helped sustain confidence in parts of the country.

The institute expects little change in the months ahead. “Our members tell us they generally expect conditions to remain broadly steady over the coming months, with improving enquiry levels in some areas supporting cautious optimism,” Ryley said.

For buyers in Auckland and Wellington, that means more choice and more time than they have had in years. For sellers there, it means a longer wait. In Southland, where homes are selling faster than in any August since 2018, the reverse applies.

Are you buying or selling in Auckland, Wellington or the South Island right now? Tell us how long it is taking and what you are seeing at open homes in the comments below.

This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂