The beginning of 2012 has been bright for New Zealand property, with it in better shape than it has been in for the past five years.

The latest report from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand shows that nearly 10% more properties were sold in 2011 than the previous year. “It would not be too optimistic to say that the industry, certainly in terms of volume sales has turned a corner. Some parts turned that corner six months ago, notably Auckland, whilst some will take a few more months before witnessing this change” said the Institutes director, Alistair Helm.

The average asking price of property in New Zealand remained steady, falling just 1% which suggests that sellers understood what buyers would and wouldn’t pay. 2011 saw over 61,000 properties sold throughout the country; “This represented a modest 9% growth as compared to 2010. The word modest is most appropriate when the volume of sales is viewed against the perspective of the past 20 years. 2011 was much improved from both 2008 and 2010 which represented the lowest sales volumes of the past 20 years, barely struggling to reach half the sales volumes of the peak years of 2002 to 2007.’ Explained Mr. Helm, “Auckland’s largest residential agency with 40% of the market, has reported its strongest January month in four years and said it expected gradual and modest increases in house prices over the first quarter of 2012.”

For details of property for sale in New Zealand, visit the NZ listings on Rightmove Overseas. One way to save money when buying in NZ is to use a currency specialist when transferring your pounds into dollars to complete the purchase of your property. For more information on this, contact Smart Currency Exchange.

To understand the full step-by-step process to buying a property in New Zealand, collect The Overseas Guides Company’s ‘New Zealand Property Buying Guide’