PHOTO: Trade Me Property data shows online views rose by 130 percent in April.
Latest Trade Me Property data shows a surge in views of properties for sale in the Queenstown Lakes district, and from people aged under 30.
It comes as prolonged border closures mean the former tourist hotspot of Queenstown now faces a challenging future, with the Queenstown Lakes District Council reporting about 9000 requests for financial assistance at the beginning of May.
Based on Trade Me property search data for April, in the first week of COVID-19 alert level 3, which took effect from April 28, listing views for properties in the Queenstown Lakes district were 130 percent higher than the same week in 2019.
In the same week, Trade Me Property experienced a surge in interest from 18-29 year-olds nationally, with the number of views of property around New Zealand from this age group up 38 percent year-on-year.
Nigel Jeffries, head of Trade Me Property, said that April’s national average asking price was $706,250: 5 percent higher than in April 2019 and 31 percent higher than in April 2015. Latest online data shows that properties in the lower South Island are attracting a lot of interest.
“The three districts that have seen the largest jump in traffic on property listings are Queenstown-Lakes, South Otago, and Wanaka.
“Of these, Queenstown-Lakes saw the biggest change during the first week of level 3, with an incredible 130 per cent increase in the number of views on property in the district when compared to the same time last year.”
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