GLOPRAGlobal Property Radar

New Zealand house prices fall 3.4% in October 2026

New Zealand's national median house price fell 3.4% in the year to October 2026 to NZ$763,000, while sales dropped 23.5% and listings stock rose 11.4%.

The facts

  • REINZ data for October 2026 puts the national median price at NZ$763,000, -3.4% against October 2025; the three-month median was NZ$760,000, down 1.9% year on year.
  • The REINZ House Price Index fell 2.1% year on year to 3,549, but edged up 0.1% over both the month and the three months to October.
  • 5,840 properties sold in October, 23.5% fewer than a year earlier. Sales were 2.0% below September, or 10.3% lower once seasonal patterns are allowed for.
  • Annual sales fell in all 16 regions, and Auckland alone accounted for 714 of the national annual decline of 1,793 sales.
  • Five regions still recorded higher medians, among them Southland NZ$530,000 (+7.9%), Tasman NZ$817,500 (+3.5%) and Canterbury NZ$730,000 (+3.1%), which REINZ calls an outright record for the region.
  • Properties took a median of 43 days to sell, two days longer than in October 2025, while month-end inventory reached 37,433, up 11.4% and the highest October level since 2014 — figures REINZ attributes to the country's main residential listings portal rather than to its own sales data.

What it means for your money

  • Entry prices are lower and stock is deeper. But sales fell 23.5%, so resale is slower.
  • Glopra data put New Zealand's national average asking price at USD 504,654 and the country's Bubble Risk score at 50 out of 100, in the moderate band, so the buyer is entering a softer market that the scoring does not flag as stretched.
  • For an existing owner the supply side matters more than the price print: a 15th consecutive month of annual growth in the listings portal's inventory and a 43-day median selling time load the cost onto the exit, not the entry.
  • Regional pricing has separated from the national number. Canterbury's median is an outright record for the region while the national median fell 3.4% over the year, so one country-level figure no longer describes the price actually paid.

What to watch

  • The Official Cash Rate was held at 2.75% on 28 October. The next move in financing cost is the main swing factor for entry pricing.
  • REINZ prints no base period and no methodology for its House Price Index, so the 3,549 level is comparable only with REINZ's own history.
  • The inflation and unemployment readings REINZ cites alongside the data, 3.7% and 5.7%, are September-quarter figures, not October ones.

Sources: REINZ https://www.reinz.co.nz/Web/Web/News/News-Articles/Market-updates/Regional_price_strength_stands_out_as_October_sales_pace_slows.aspx

Market data: New Zealand · Auckland · Wellington · Queenstown