Almost one in 10 houses are selling for less than the homeowner initially paid. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
Almost one in 10 residential property sales are happening for a price less than the seller paid.
Cotality, formerly Corelogic, has released its latest Pain and Gain report, which shows the gains and losses being made by sellers around the country.
In the first quarter of this year, 90.8 percent of sales were for a gross profit, down from 91.1 percent in the previous quarter and 99 percent at the peak of the market.
For those who were selling for a profit, the median amount made was $280,000. The record is $440,000 in the last quarter of 2021.
The median loss for people who lost money was $50,000.
Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said the figures showed the market was resilient despite the drop in prices.
He said the key was how long a property had been owned.
"A typical property resold for a profit in the first quarter of 2025 had been owned for 9.1 years. That's unchanged from the prior quarter and underscores how time in the market generally shields owners from volatility.
"The hold period is the really critical thing. There's a very clear picture of the properties that have made a loss have only been held for two or three years. That's amplified this cycle because the last two or three years is measuring right back to the peak. A short hold period is just doubled down this time in terms of the probability that someone will make a loss as opposite to if you've held for eight or nine or 10 years, it is much more likely to be a gain."
He said the large number of listings on the market meant buyers had the "upper hand" when it came to price negotiations.
"Some vendors are simply having no choice but to take a deal below what they originally paid, especially if they've only owned the property for a short period of time."
Of the main centres, Auckland had the highest proportion of losses, at 14.2 percent.
Wellington was next at 10.9 percent, then Hamilton at 10.3 percent. But 17.9 percent of investor sales in Hamilton were for a loss.
Whangarei had the most losses of the smaller centres, with 16.2 percent of properties selling for less than the vendor paid.
In Queenstown, just 1.1 percent of properties sold for a loss.
Davidson said although slightly higher rates of investor sales were for a loss, there was no evidence of widespread distress selling.
"Lower mortgage rates are helping support investor cashflows. We're not seeing any sign of fire-sale exits."
People were more likely to lose money on apartments.
While just 8.4 percent of houses resold for a loss, 32.8 percent of apartments did.
The median apartment loss was $63,000, compared to $49,000 for houses.
"Loss-making sales of apartments might tend to reflect unexpected personal changes such as family issues, rather than widespread market retreat," Davidson said.
He said the price downturn seemed to be over but it was not clear that there was going to be an abrupt upturn either.
He expected prices to rise by about 5 percent this year which would reduce the frequency of resale losses.
"A 5 percent gain in price is not off the charts but will reduce the pain a little bit and increase the gain for those sellers - so this is probably about as bad as we get."
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