Over the past five years, Auckland population grew by seven percent and housing by 10.3 percent.
Photo: Kāinga Ora
The country’s biggest property market has an oversupply of homes.
Property research firm Cotality has reported the number of new builds in the Auckland region outstripped population growth between 2019-24.
Cotality NZ chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said new townhouses and units have created a big shift in dynamics, and a “loosening of market conditions”.
During the five years from 2019, Cotality showed New Zealand’s population grew by 6.4 percent, while housing stock increased by 7.5 percent.
The construction boom over the past five years has boosted supply with more intensified dwelling types in Auckland adding to the surplus.
Auckland’s population grew by seven percent over the same period, but was exceeded by an even stronger 10.3 percent increase in dwelling stock.
Wellington also faced a surplus, with the population decreasing by one percent over the five-year period, while dwelling stock increased by four percent.
Davidson said the oversupply of housing stock in Auckland and Wellington co-incided with weaker property values.
“If you look at Auckland and Wellington, we’ve seen the supply of dwellings rise by more than population over the past 5-6 years,” he said. “The supply and demand balance has eased a bit over that time, and it seems consistent with the flatness in property values we’re seeing.”
There was a varying picture in regions Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and Queenstown. Double-digit population growth in Tauranga and Hamilton outpaced the supply of homes.
Between 2019-24, Hamilton’s population increased by 10.3 percent, while its dwellings grew by 8.1 percent.
An influx of overseas investment drove the Queenstown market.
Cotality said the data suggested the outlook for values in Auckland and Wellington may remain relatively soft, while Hamilton and Tauranga could see a stronger performance.
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