Almost 20% of New Zealand townhouses selling for a loss
According to the latest report from New Zealand's largest property data provider CoreLogic, 19.4 percent of townhouses sold in the first quarter of 2026 were sold below their original purchase price. The proportion is higher in the Auckland and Wellington regions; newer developments built after 2019 are seeing the sharpest declines.
On 20 May 2026, New Zealand's largest property data provider CoreLogic published a quarterly report finding that 19.4 percent of townhouse-type properties sold in the first three months of 2026 were sold below their original purchase price. In the previous quarter the figure had been 14.7 percent. The average loss is calculated at 78,500 New Zealand dollars.
In Auckland, 23.1 percent of townhouse sales ended at a loss; in Wellington the figure was 21.8 percent. In medium-sized cities such as Hamilton and Tauranga the rate is in a 15-17 percent band. CoreLogic Chief Economist Kelvin Davidson said the sharpest declines were seen in newer developments built during the post-2019 COVID-era housing boom and that most buyers of these properties were investors.
Sales fell sharply after the RBNZ raised its policy rate to 5.75 percent in mid-2025; rate cuts are advancing slowly. ANZ Bank said in a recent report that recovery in the New Zealand housing market over the next 18 months may be difficult, but that the structural supply shortfall will continue to support prices over the longer run. The government has begun reviewing a housing construction tax incentive package.
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